It’s not often that an Indian captain walks into the press conference room in the middle of a Test match. Sourav Ganguly made it in Bulawayo in September 2005, but that was after he had scored 100 goals against Zimbabwe, and perhaps mainly because he was aware that questions about tensions between him and then-coach Greg Chappell would allow him to to present his side of history to the world.

Rohit Sharma doesn’t like to deal with the press before or after the game, so it could be seen as a selfless act for him to even volunteer as a media representative after one of India’s worst Test days. Minutes after New Zealand ended the second day of the first Test in Bengaluru confidently, having bowled out India by 46 points, their lowest home score and third-worst ever, and scored 180 for three points away, India’s captain lifted the Hand , admitting that he had misjudged the playing surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“We expected the pitch to be a little flatter than it actually was,” he continued. “Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you don’t. This time I was on the other (wrong) side. It hurts me a little bit because I made that call.” No hiding behind a “collective decision,” no sharing the blame. “We didn’t play well. Simply.”

Full marks to the skipper for his honesty and taking responsibility. But could this entire exercise have been avoided?

Most certainly. With a little more common sense or even with a more disciplined and intelligent batting presentation.

A million eyebrows were raised when India decided to bat on the second morning – the entire first day was a wash. Logic seemed to dictate that there would be help for the faster bowlers, and help in abundance, as the surface had spent almost all of the last three days under wraps. If any conditions required bowling first, it was these.

But wait. Tom Latham, the New Zealand captain, said he too would have batted first if he had had the choice. “So it was a good throw to lose,” grinned Matt Henry like a Cheshire cat, delighting in a fourth fiver that took the New Zealand pacer to 100 Test wickets.

Between the toss and the start of the game at 9:15 a.m. the clouds gathered above us and enveloped the sun in their cold embrace. But whether that alone changed the entire dynamic of batting is questionable.

Rohit pointed to the absence of any grass on the pitch and said the challenge, if any, would be the first two sessions after which the track would be very suitable for batting. Good in theory, but in practice India were eliminated in less than three hours and 31.2 overs. Through a combination of New Zealand industry and entrepreneurship as well as their own reluctance and questionable shot selection that brought about many a downfall.

Kohli’s place

Rohit and Gautam Gambhir would have clearly factored in Shubman Gill’s absence. In his last six Tests, the new No.3 has made three centuries and so his absence with a stiff neck was a huge blow. Who would take third place? Sarfaraz Khan, his successor? KL Rahul, the long-time opener who is now finding his calling at number 6? Or Virat Kohli, the former captain who had previously batted in the position six times and scored a top score of 41?

Kohli quickly accepted the new challenge, but without success. He was out without a hit against a lob from William O’Rourke, as was Sarfaraz, who played an aggressive shot far too early in his innings and was sensationally caught right-handed by Devon Conway at mid-on. Rahul chipped in with a third duck that hit goalkeeper Tom Blundell in the leg with a sniffer as his tendency to play with his chest closed proved crucially disastrous.

Only Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, who were among the more aggressive of an ultra-attacking line-up, showed hard work and fierce determination. The rest came and went in a sad and awkward procession. It was the second time this year – after Cape Town in January – that five or more Indians were dismissed without scoring in a Test innings; It was also the first time since Mohali in 1999, also against New Zealand, that there were five ducks in a completed Indian innings on home soil. Really damning numbers, even if you sometimes wish them away as just one bad day in office.

India have done a million things right in Test cricket in the last few years. The juxtaposition of a massive lapse in judgment and a horrific hitting breakdown on the same day certainly doesn’t fall into that category.