‘Tough Pill To Swallow’: Sachin Tendulkar’s School Of Thought After India's Test Series Loss Against New Zealand

Former India great Sachin Tendulkar responded to India’s Test series loss against New Zealand at home. As per Sachin, it’s a tough pill to swallow. The former India cricketer highlighted that India needs to introspect and where they went wrong. Sachin reserved big praise on Shubman Gill for his 90-run knock in the 1st innings and Rishabh Pant for his back-to-back fifties against New Zealand. The Indian team lost a Test series on their soil after a long gap of 12 years as the Blackcaps whitewashed them in a three-match Test series.

"Losing 3-0 at home is a tough pill to swallow, and it calls for introspection. Was it lack of preparation, was it poor shot selection, or was it lack of match practice? Shubman Gill showed resilience in the first innings, and Rishabh Pant was brilliant in both innings- his footwork made a challenging surface look like a different one altogether. He was simply superb," Tendulkar wrote on X.

Losing 3-0 at home is a tough pill to swallow, and it calls for introspection.
Was it lack of preparation, was it poor shot selection, or was it lack of match practice? ShubmanGill showed resilience in the first innings, and RishabhPant17 was brilliant in both innings— his… pic.twitter.com/8f1WifI5Hd — Sachin Tendulkar (sachin_rt) November 3, 2024

"Full credit to New Zealand for their consistent performance throughout the series. Winning 3-0 in India is as good a result as it can get," he added.

On the back of this series win, the Kiwis became the fourth team to clean-sweep India in Tests after England, Australia, and West Indies. 

"Yes absolutely (bitter pill to swallow). Losing a series, a Test match, is never easy... something that is not easily digestible. We didn't play our best cricket. New Zealand played better throughout the series. There were a lot of mistakes we did," Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

"We failed as a unit. When you are chasing a target like that, you want runs on the board. That was in my mind and it did not come off. When it does not come off it does not look great," he added.