Rohit Sharma bites his tongue after making a mistake in an “unnecessary” act of “desperation” after New Zealand's record lead

India's agonizing innings ended 24 hours after their historic low on home soil on Friday afternoon as New Zealand secured a hefty 356-run lead in the opening Test of the three-match series. After a flurry of wickets to start the third day in Bengaluru, India were frustrated by a record-breaking three-figure stand for the eighth wicket between Tom Southee and centurion Rachin Ravindra as New Zealand were folded for 402.

India seemed to have come up with a definite plan against the visitors as they picked four wickets in the first hour of the third day and hoped to defeat New Zealand by a margin of less than 200 runs. But frustration grew as Southee and Ravindra nullified the spinners' early threat before putting on a counter-attacking show to take their century. Along the way, the former New Zealand captain scored his seventh Test half-century, while Ravindra scored his second career goal to become the country's first centurion in India since 2012.

With the frustration grew India's desperation to eliminate New Zealand and it was evident, as commentators noted, when captain Rohit Sharma made a fielding error. It happened in the second ball of the 80th over of the innings, just before lunch, when Southee hit a long ball from Mohammed Siraj towards cover, only for Rohit to catch it comfortably.

However, Rohit immediately threw it back to the wicketkeeper, which was deemed “unnecessary” by the commentator. The latter further exclaimed, “He showed too much desperation” as Rishabh Pant, surprised, missed Rohit's throw as the ball raced away towards the boundary.

New Zealand take the lead by 356 runs

Ravindra's knock of 134, the fourth-highest individual score by a New Zealand batsman, ensured the visitors ended their first innings on 402, which subsequently gave them a lead of 356 runs. Ravindra took 157 balls with 13 fours and four sixes while Southee made a good 65 and added 137 with the former for the eighth wicket, compounding India's woes after they were all out for an embarrassing 46 in the first essay.

For India, Ravindra Jadeja took 3/72, Kuldeep Yadav grabbed 3/99 while Mohammed Siraj took two wickets.