"You Can't Completely Surrender": Shreyas Iyer And Co. Sent Strong Message After 89 All Out vs New Zealand

Chasing a target of 334 in the fourth ODI against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui on Friday, India were 0/3 by the end of the first over, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer back in the hut. They lost another wicket by the end of the sixth over and ultimately folded for just 89. The 244-run loss was their second-heaviest defeat in ODIs and put the team under scrutiny. In the post-match press conference, head coach Gautam Gambhir called for more responsible batting from his team. Former India opener Aakash Chopra agreed with the sentiment.

"As Gautam Gambhir mentioned after the match, there are no unplayable deliveries in the game of cricket. Yes, it was great bowling, but you need to be better. And that's the way to look at it. You can't completely surrender. You have to find a way. It's just that it happened so quickly that you really didn't have the time to recover, regroup, reassess and play differently," Aakash Chopra said on ESPNcricinfo.

Indian batters seemed clueless against New Zealand pacer Matt Henry. He accounted for the first three wickets and finished with figures of 9.4-2-27-6.

"He didn't look as menacing in the T20Is. But the moment the format gets longer, there are two new balls, and there's a bit in the surface, that's when Matt Henry becomes a very difficult bowler to negotiate early on when the ball is new. When you see the ball coming out of his hand, there's hardly any indication of which way it's going to go after pitching," Chopra said.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has raised alarm about his team's batting struggles, not just after being bowled out for 89 in their crushing 244-run defeat against New Zealand in the fourth ODI at Mount Maunganui, but also following their collapse to 111/7 while chasing a modest target of 135 in the rain-affected second ODI, which India narrowly won via the DLS method.

With India holding a 2-1 lead in the series, Gambhir will be keen to see an improved batting performance in the fifth and final ODI, scheduled to be played at Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

"There's no benefit to sweeping it under the carpet. It isn't just this match. Even in the previous match, we were seven down for 111 or 112. Today we lost, so we are talking about it," Gambhir said in his post-match press conference on Friday.

"Yeah, it's a huge defeat, no doubt about it, but even in the previous match, if you're chasing 135, and you get seven down for 111, obviously it is a bit of a concern, because yes, there is some help here for the bowlers, so we have to be not only mentally but from the skill point of view we need to be ready as well," he added.

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