Rohit Sharma under fire from Shastri, Kartik; 'captaincy in question' as New Zealand ready to surprise India

Rohit Sharma's leadership skills have been questioned during the New Zealand series. Admitting his error in misreading the pitch in the first Test in Bengaluru, which led to India's lowest total at home and their first loss to New Zealand in 36 years, Sharma faced heavy criticism. His conservative tactics in the second Test in Pune were heavily criticized by cricket experts Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, and Simon Doull. The situation did not improve in New Zealand's second innings on Day 2.

After a reckless batting performance in the morning session that saw them lose six wickets and then get bowled out for 156 in less than an hour in the second session, Rohit started off with spin from both ends. While the ploy to use off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar was a good one on a surface that had a lot of assistance for the spinners, the fields that gave painted a grim picture.

New Zealand openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway, quite expectedly, played a lot of shots, including sweeps on both sides. They used their feet, trying to upset the rhythm of the spinners, but all it took for Rohit to remove all the close-in fielders was a couple of overs.

"Whatever New Zealand have done by showing intent and taking those singles, I'm amazed that they have managed to scatter away all the men around the bat. There's only one, which is Rohit Sharma (at first slip). The other one is trying to protect that single," said Murali Kartik in commentary when New Zealand captain Latham was batting with just one catcher. New Zealand were 25 for no loss in the sixth over.

Former India coach Ravi Shastri joined in, calling out Rohit's defensive mindset. Shastri said after conceding a 103-run first-innings lead, India should have looked to bowl New Zealand out for 120, but Rohit's field placements didn't give out that signal.

"This also tells you, tactically, how you should be thinking. India should've been thinking how can we bowl out New Zealand out for 120 and for that to happen, you need to think wickets, you need fielders in attacking positions. Yes, if the side gets to 60/0 you can start thinking differently. It also makes the bowlers think that the captain wants wickets, not with a spread-out field like this," Shastri said.

New Zealand extended their lead to a commanding 301 on Friday. New Zealand, who lead the three-match series 1-0, were 198-5 at stumps in their second knock after skipper Tom Latham hit 86.

Wicketkeeper Tom Blundell, on 30, and Glenn Phillips, on nine, were batting at the close of play to raise New Zealand's hopes of a first-ever Test series win in India.

Spinner Washington Sundar grabbed four wickets to take his match tally to 11 after returning figures of 7-59 against the Kiwis on day one.