India vs New Zealand: Rohit Sharma justifies playing XI after humiliating loss in Wellington

Rohit said that the lack of partnerships was one of the prime reason why the Indians — known to be quality chasers — couldn’t come even close to the New Zealand total.

It was India’s biggest loss by run-margin in Wellington on Wednesday as New Zealand beat India by 80 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. But skipper Rohit Sharma has backed his boys and also justified why the team played eight batsmen in the series opener. Despite the presence of so many batsmen, the Indians could manage only 139 in reply to New Zealand’s score of 219/6 in their 20 overs.

New Zealand players walk off after beating India in the first T20I in Wellington.(AP)

“It was a tough game. We were outplayed in all three departments. We didn’t start well and we knew that 200 wasn’t going to be an easy chase although the grounds are small here. But we kept losing wickets and that threw us off. We have chased such targets in the past and that is why we played with eight batsmen,” he explained.

Rohit said that the lack of partnerships was one of the prime reason why the Indians — known to be quality chasers — couldn’t come even close to the New Zealand total.

“We didn’t have small partnerships and that made it tough while chasing such a big target. But New Zealand though played well, they had partnerships that allowed them to get such a big score,” he said.

But Rohit is confident that the team will come back strongly in the second game of the series in Auckland on Friday.

“We need to go to Auckland, assess the conditions and take it forward,” the acting skipper said.

He went on to add that this team believes they can chase down any total. “As a team, we have been good at chasing down targets which is why we play with eight batsmen. We believe that whatever the target is in front of us we can chase it down, but we just couldn’t do it tonight,” he said.