Parthiv Patel blasts Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in Bengaluru Test, accuses him of wasting Ravichandran Ashwin

Former India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel has criticized the captaincy of Rohit Sharma in the Test series opener against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

The Rohit Sharma & Co. didn't look at their best in the first Test of the three-match series against the Blackcaps at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru despite heading into the series on the back of a dominant 2-0 whitewash over Bangladesh at home.

India Lost First Test Against New Zealand By 8 Wickets

India won the toss and chose to bat first in the match. The decision backfired as they got bundled out for 46, which was their lowest-ever score in the history of Test cricket on home soil and overall third lowest.

Then, with the ball, India were below par and they struggled badly against Rachin Ravindra and Tim Southee, which allowed the visitors to post a mammoth total of 402 runs on the board.

A special effort was needed from the Indian batters to get back into the match and they did exactly that. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma started off well before Virat Kohli took the charge and played brilliant innings.

However, the best performances came from the bat of Sarfaraz Khan, who hit 150 runs, and Rishabh Pant, who scored 99.

India reached the score of 462 and set a target of 107 runs for New Zealand, which they chased down on the final day with 8 wickets in hand to clinch a victory.

Rohit Sharma's Captaincy Was Definitely Slightly Surprising - Parthiv Patel

While defending a small total, Rohit Sharma started off with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj and brought in the team's biggest match-winner, Ravichandran Ashwin, only when the opposition needed 10 runs for the win.

During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Parthiv Patel was left surprised by Rohit Sharma's tactic of introducing Ravichandran Ashwin very late in the attack. He said that Ashwin should have opened the bowling along with Jasprit Bumrah. He elaborated:

"It was slightly surprising because you want your main bowler to bowl as much as possible. In fact, we were discussing whether he would bowl with the new ball or not because he is even more effective with the new ball, especially when he bowls in the fourth innings.

"So Rohit Sharma's captaincy was definitely slightly surprising. When he (Ashwin) came to bowl for two overs, there also he beat the batter two or three times. I feel when he (Rohit) looks back or goes to the press conference, he will definitely be asked why he didn't bowl Ravichandran Ashwin."

India Might Have Lost The Test But I Still Don't Feel That Decision Was Wrong - Parthiv Patel

Rohit Sharma was heavily criticised for India's decision to bat first in the match and the skipper openly accepted his mistake in reading the pitch at the press conference. However, Parthiv Patel felt that the bat-first decision by India was not a wrong one. Parthiv Patel elaborated:

"India might have lost the Test but I still don't feel that decision was wrong. It's true that the way India batted and got out for 46, they fell way behind in the game. However, I don't think that decision was wrong. Even after that, India had opportunities to come back in the Test match.

"When Rachin Ravindra and Tim Southee had a partnership of over 130 runs, you had a chance there. After that, when Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant were batting and Sarfaraz got out, you had a chance to build partnerships. If you had taken the 110-run target to 170 or close to 200, it would have been a different game."