Gambhir, Abhishek Nayar’s animated post-match chat with Rohit in dressing room

Bouncing back after a ’46 all out’ was never going to be an easy task for India. But they did instill a sense of belief, whether through Sarfaraz Khan-Rishabh Pant’s recovery act to post a 462-run total in the second innings, or though Jasprit Bumrah bowling his heart out on Sunday, picking two early wickets. But New Zealand remained patient and eventually cruised past the target in the opening session on Day 5 in Bengaluru to script a historic win.
The loss ended India’s winning streak at home. Since the Hyderabad loss against England earlier this year, India has won six in a row. It also left India in a precarious spot in terms of their qualification plans for the World Test Championship final.
Following the eight-wicket defeat at home, their first against New Zealand in 36 years, and third overall in 33 encounters, dating back to 1955, head coach Gautam Gambhir was spotted having an animated and lengthy chat in the Indian dressing room with captain Rohit Sharma. Assistant coach Abhishek Nayar too was present during the chat, as the two coaches made most of the talking.
Despite the setback in Bengaluru, where India incurred testing conditions under the overcast sky, which largely favoured the New Zealand fast bowlers, Rohit sounded confident of a comeback in the second Test in Pune next week. Speaking in the post-match presentation, Rohit sent a sharp reminder of how India battled through a similar situation in the series against England earlier this year, winning the next four matches.
“New Zealand bowled pretty well and challenged every corner of our bat and we failed to respond to that. Games like these happen. 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,” he said.