India suffered their first defeat in the ICC World Test Championship when New Zealand beat them by ten wickets in the first Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Former New Zealand all-rounder Craig McMillan was stunned by the ineptness of the Indian batsmen, saying that he believes that the batsmen did not respect the conditions well and played like they were playing in India.
“I haven’t seen India, the number one Test side in the world, dismantled like they were over those four days in Wellington,” McMillan told Radio Sport.
“They didn’t make any adjustments in the way they played, they threw their hands at the ball like they do in India,” he further added.
Also see – Women’s T20 world cup schedule
According to him, the Indians were not able to deal with the bounce in New Zealand and that is exactly the reason for their undoing. The Kiwis bowled tight line and length and swung the ball, thus inducing false shots from the batsmen.
“When the ball doesn’t bounce above knee-high you can get away with some of those shots - in New Zealand you don’t,” McMillan stated.
McMillan also praised the kind of efforts New Zealand put in in order to beat the world number one Test side. Trent Boult and Tim Southee were at their usual best while Kyle Jamieson stepped up in the absence of Neil Wagner and contributed with both bat and ball. This has made things interesting as New Zealand could opt for an all-pace attack for the second Test.
Follow IPL Auction 2025 Live Updates, News & Biddings at Sportskeeda. Get the fastest updates on Mega-Auction and cricket news