Team India endured its worst performance at home and were bowled out for a score of 46 in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand on Thursday. As many as five Indian batters were dismissed for ducks in the innings, including star players like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan. The nature of India’s atrocious show in the innings was such that even former head coach Ravi Shastri did not shy away from taking a swipe at the batting unit.

While commentating on the match, Shastri mocked Kohli and other batters a few times. Once, when the team’s scorecard appeared on the broadcaster’s screen, Shastri railed against Kohli and others being dismissed for duck. The former Indian all-rounder called them a ‘duck party’.

He said, “When you see that scorecard, you think there’s going to be a duck party there. Five ducks!”

Later, when the cameraman showed the image of Kohli, Sarfaraz and Rahul standing in the slips while batting New Zealand, Shastri brought up the subject of ducks again.

“It’s unheard of in India – the lowest score is the team being bowled out for 46. All three are in slips, all out on ducks,” he said.

During the post-match press conference, Indian captain Rohit Sharma admitted his mistake in assessing the pitch.

“I feel a little pain because I made that call. We were in a situation where we were bowled out for 46 runs. As a captain, it definitely hurts to see that number,” Rohit said at the post-day press meet. .

“So it’s clearly a misjudgment of the pitch. I didn’t read the pitch well enough and we’re in this situation. Even though in 365 days you’re going to make two or three bad decisions. That’s absolutely fine, I think,” he said. .