'We lost a game against England and then won four in a row': Rohit Sharma warns New Zealand

India captain Rohit Sharma spoke about the positives and the mistakes that India made during the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. While speaking about the positives, Rohit hailed Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan for their excellent knocks in the game.

Both Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant played memorable knocks despite being unable to take India past the finish line. Sarfaraz, especially, had an incredible Test match and went on to score his maiden Test hundred.

It was a moment to cherish for the youngster. He embraced his batting partner at that time, Rishabh Pant, after reaching his century. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant smashed a quickfire 99 off just 105 balls and bailed India out of huge trouble.

Watch- Virat Kohli refuses to give up, asks Bengaluru crowd to cheer for India as New Zealand zoom

Rohit Sharma praises India's batting effort

While speaking in the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma admitted that India didn't bat well in the first innings and were left with a mountain to climb. However, he also lauded the batters to put up a great fight in the second innings despite being way behind.

"It was a good effort with the bat in the second innings. We didn't bat well in the first innings. So knew what was ahead and couple of guys stood out. When you are 350 behind you can't think too much about it, just got to see the ball and bat," Rohit said.

India were dismissed for just 46 in their first innings while New Zealand piled up 402 runs in reply. The visitors took a first innings lead of 356 runs to take full control of the match.

Rohit Sharma speaks on the batting of Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan

The India captain then spoke about the two crucial partnerships for India in the second innings of the match. He lauded Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant for playing aggressively and showing maturity during their respective knocks.

"Couple of partnerships were really exciting to watch and got us back in the game. We could have easily been bowled out cheaply but proud of the effort. Everyone is on the edge of the seat when those two (Sarfaraz and Pant) are playing. They like the play the game which has got them success.

"Rishabh, with the way he bats he takes a lot of risks but I thought it was mature innings in the game. Defended good balls and left a few balls and then backed himself to play those shots as well. Sarfaraz showed great maturity as well," Rohit Sharma said.

"He is only playing his 4th Test match and to show that kind of maturity and very clear in his mind what shots he wanted to play. I said in my press conference after Day 2 that we knew it will be sticky early on and challenged with the overcast conditions but we didn't expect to be out under 50. New Zealand bowled pretty well and challenged every corner of our bat and we failed to respond to that. Games like these happen," Rohit Sharma said.

"We will take the positives and move forward. There are guys who have been in this situation before. We lost a game against England and won four games after that. Two Test matches to go and we know exactly what is needed from each one of us. We will try and put our best game forward," Rohit Sharma concluded.

India had two excellent partnerships in the match and Sarfaraz Khan was involved in both of them. The first big partnership was between Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan as the duo collected 136 runs in 163 balls in their partnership. Unfortunately, Kohli was dismissed in the last ball of Day 3 to bring an end to this exciting partnership.

Partnership between Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant

Despite losing Kohli, Sarfaraz kept on playing in his attacking way and pulled off another great partnership, this time with Rishabh Pant. Sarfaraz and Pant played some brilliant shots during their partnership of 177 runs for the fourth wicket.

But Sarfaraz's wicket opened the floodgates for New Zealand as India suffered an unwanted batting collapse which saw them lose 7 wickets for 54 runs. Requiring 107 to win, New Zealand chased down the target with 8 wickets to spare.

Despite losing the game, Rohit Sharma was confident that India will bounce back strongly in the next two Tests of the series. He lauded New Zealand for their performance and stated that India will take the positives from this match.