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Shubman Gill of India and Rohit Sharma of India during the 3rd ODI match between India and New Zealand at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, India, on January 18, 2026. (CREIMAS for BCCI)
In the aftermath of New Zealand’s 41-run victory in Indore on Sunday, India captain Shubman Gill said that his team were left lacking in all departments, but especially with the bat, over the past eight days as the spirited Kiwis shocked them to win their first ODI series on Indian soil.
New Zealand’s 2-1 series win was all the more impressive given that they were fielding a second-string side with some important players like white-ball captain Mitchell Santner and top-order batter Rachin Ravindra for the upcoming T20I series, starting Wednesday, and the following T20 World Cup.
In Gill’s appraisal of where things went wrong for India, he took some of the blame on his own shoulders before ensuring a bit gets passed around, too. The top order, presumably him and his predecessor Rohit Sharma, failing to make their starts count, and the bowlers failing to grab wickets in the middle-overs, were the areas of concern.
“All of us, all the batsmen. I don’t think we have been able to convert starts. There are high-scoring matches in India and if the batsmen, especially two of them at the top, are not able to convert starts then we won’t be able to post the big scores,” Gill said in the press conference.
About the bowling, and Kuldeep’s lack of wickets, he added: “Sometimes, it happens. Kuldeep (Yadav), the way he has been bowling in the last couple of years: he has always been a strike bowler for us. It’s unfortunate that he was not able to take as many wickets this time. These are the reasons these kind of series’ help us grow.”
In Gill’s assessment, the crucial series decider did not slip from India’s hands due to a wrong decision at the toss. Even though temperatures did not dip as sharply as expected, making dew play less of a part in the evening, the consensus was that both teams would have decided to chase if they won. Instead, the Indian captain believes his team gave away too many runs, with some lackadaisical fielding too.
“I honestly felt our fielding in this series was not up to the mark. We dropped some crucial catches, and it’s not easy for bowlers to create chances on wickets like this. It’s an aspect I think we really have to get better at,” he said.
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“These were the big differences between the two teams: their batsmen converted their starts. And New Zealand were better in the field, they must have saved at least 15-20 runs today. These make a big difference,” he added.
English (US) ·