Days after head coach Gautam Gambhir criticized the country's “batsman-obsessed attitude”, India were bowled out for just 46 by New Zealand in the opening game of the three-match series, one of their lowest ever scores in Test cricket. After the opening day was washed out at M Chinnaswamy without a ball being bowled, New Zealand bowlers took advantage of the mostly overcast conditions in Bengaluru to wreak havoc on the second day. The hosts combined for the third-lowest score in Test history and the lowest at home.

Five batters – Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin – were dismissed for a duck on Thursday. The only other time five Indian batters were dismissed for a duck against New Zealand was in the Mohali Test in 1999. India also failed to record their lowest ever mark for most ducks (6) in an innings achievement recorded against England in 2014 and South Africa in 2024. Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) and Rishabh Pant (20) were the only two batters to reach double figures.

As New Zealand began their first innings in Bengaluru, a picture of the Indian scorecard was shown to former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who was present in the commentary team. Admitting he was shocked to witness five dismissals for a duck, he rather took a cheeky dig at the Indian team, saying: “When you see that scorecard, you think there's a duck party going on “Five ducks!”

When the cameraman next showed the image of Kohli, Sarfaraz and Rahul standing in the slips during New Zealand's innings, the former India all-rounder added: “This is unheard of in India – lowest score, the team finished on 46 bowled out for points. Everything.” Three are standing in briefs, all looking for ducks.

Rohit Sharma takes responsibility for misjudgments

India made a surprise move on Thursday after opting to bat first and selecting three spinners and just two fast bowlers under cloudy Bengaluru skies, and after Chinnaswamy experienced incessant rain for the past 48 hours or more.

Rohit later admitted his mistake of misjudging the pitch after India folded for just 46 runs.

“You look and try to make a judgement. Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you don’t and this time I was on the other side,” Rohit said. It hurts me a little bit because I made that call. But you see, for us as a team, I think these are the challenges.

“What if we put a little pressure on ourselves? We want to play well Well, and we found ourselves in a situation where we were bowled out for 46 runs. As a captain, it definitely hurts to see that number, but in 365 days you will make two or three bad decisions.