Kiwi kidnapping stuns India ahead of departure for Australia

Rohit Sharma’s men are under immense pressure less than three weeks before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, from a slump to a rare home series win.

India will arrive on Australian shores on the heels of one of their most humiliating defeats after New Zealand pulled off a stunning 3-0 series sweep in Mumbai.

Leading men Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s batting woes continued as the inspired New Zealanders demolished the hosts in the fourth innings for just 121, 25 runs short of their target at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai native Ajaz Patel was a New Zealand hero. The left-arm spinner’s 11th wicket of the match sealed what is being called the Black Caps’ greatest Test series win of all time.

After further failures from captain Rohit (11) and stellar batting from Kohli (1), India’s hopes rested on the brilliance of Rishabh Pant, who played a dazzling 64 from 57 balls on a terrible pitch.

But a controversial DRS call ended the left-hander being the only batter to pass 12, handing India their third Test series defeat at home this century.

This leaves India under enormous pressure ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign, which begins in less than three weeks in Perth.

Lynchpins Rohit (93 runs in six innings) and Virat (91 in six innings) both struggled mightily against Tom Latham’s men and will be looking for form when they come down.

One of their most important bowlers, Mohammad Shami, has been out through injury for the five-Test campaign.

On a positive note, Pant appears to be back to his best form after returning from a horrific car accident. The wicket-keeper led India’s victory at the Gabba in 2021, which marked their second straight series win in Australia.

The last time India lost at home was in 2000 in a two-match series against South Africa.

With his team chasing 147, Rohit struck first, coming out of his crease to hit Matt Henry for a four on debut but fell for 11 after a rash hit to the same bowler.

Patel took two wickets in two overs when Shubman Gill, who had scored a superb 90 in the first innings, left a ball that crashed into the stumps and bounced for just one run.

Kohli didn’t last long, forcing Patel to slip for one, leaving India in real trouble at 3-18. The crowd fell silent again as Yashasvi Jaiswal was caught at five lbw by Glenn Phillips and Sarfaraz Khan hit a full toss from Patel straight to Rachin Ravindra in the deep for one.

Ravindra Jadeja steadied the ship with Pant in a 42-run stand but a stunning catch by Will Young meant India were on the ropes at 6-71.

Patel dismissed Pant after reviewing New Zealand after lunch, although the batter appeared to suggest he had not made contact with the ball before it was caught.

After that the tracks dried up and India collapsed.

The tourists won the first match in Bangalore by eight wickets, their first Test win in India in 36 years, and then closed out the series with a 113-run win in Pune.

New Zealand’s first triumph in India in 1955 also ended a run of 18 consecutive home wins since a 2-1 defeat to England in 2012.

India will begin their preparations with a training series in Perth, while their A team will play a four-day match at the MCG next week after losing their first game to Australia in Mackay.

– with Reuters

NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series v India

Team Australia: TBD

Team India: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, K.L. Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khalil Ahmed.

First test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT.

Second test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3:00 pm AEDT (d/n)

Third test: 14-18 December: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11:20am ET.

Fourth test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am ET.

Fifth test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am ET.