"Rohit Sharma is the new Temba Bavuma, playing on the basis of the captaincy quota" - Fans react as Indian skipper falls for duck in 2nd IND-NZ Test

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma endured another failure with the bat in the waning stages of Day 1 (October 24) of the second Test against New Zealand in Pune. He was dismissed for a nine-ball duck - his fifth score of below 10 in the last seven Test innings with all of them coming at home.

Rohit played all around a classic away-going delivery from Tim Southee to see his stumps rattled. The dip in form has been surprising, considering his excellent run in the white-ball formats and the excellent start to the year in Tests.

Rohit scored two centuries and a half-century in India's 4-1 home series win over England at the start of the year. However, he averages a dismal 13.71 in his last four Tests with only a lone 50+ score.

Fans on Twitter slammed the Indian skipper for his continued poor form in Tests with many calling on him to retire from the format.

Here are some of the best reactions:

Fans continued to slam Rohit for his poor run of scores in Tests with one saying:

"Rohit sharma is the new temba bavuma , playing on the basis of the captaincy quota."

"From when we can start talking abt this poor performance by Rohit Sharma in test cricket as batter. Or we're going 2 be very satisfied with his PCs, mindset, selflessness, new era, honesty n bigheartedness adjectives," tweeted a fan.

"Rohit Sharma failed again. I respect him, but I think he should take retirement from Test cricket," a fan said.

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Rohit Sharma's dismissal late on Day 1 leaves 2nd Test in the balance

Rohit Sharma lost a crucial toss on a dry Pune wicket to start the second Test and Team India was on the back foot for much of Day 1 with the Black Caps racing to 197/3 at the stroke of tea.

However, Washington Sundar, playing his first Test match since early 2021, picked up the next seven wickets to trigger a Kiwi collapse. New Zealand lost their final seven wickets for only 62 runs to finish their first innings on 259.

India had just over 30 minutes to survive on the opening day but lost skipper Rohit Sharma in the third over with only a run on the board. They eventually negated the rest of the day to finish on 16/1 in 11 overs, trailing by another 243 runs.

With the pitch expected to deteriorate by the day, it is safe to assume honors even at stumps on Day 1.