Ravi Shastri’s ‘Duck Party’ Dig at Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Sarfaraz Khan: ‘It’s Unheard Of…’

Ravi Shastri’s ‘Duck Party’ Dig at Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Sarfaraz Khan: ‘It’s Unheard Of…’

Days after head coach Gautam Gambhir expressed disapproval of India’s “batsman-obsessed attitude,” the Indian cricket team suffered one of its most catastrophic collapses in Test history. India’s opening Test total against New Zealand was a pitiful 46 runs, their lowest at home and their third-lowest Test score ever. Rain delayed the start of the match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, but on Day 2, the New Zealand bowlers took full advantage of the cloudy circumstances, destroying the Indian batting order.

Five Indian batters—Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and R Ashwin—were all removed for ducks in a startling series of events, which is exceptionally uncommon. The pitiful five ducks scored against New Zealand in the 1999 Mohali Test were matched by this. The record for the most ducks in an innings (6), which was set against South Africa in 2024 and England in 2014, was just about tied by India. It was only Rishabh Pant (20) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) who reached double figures.

The scorecard, which showed five ducks, surprised former India head coach Ravi Shastri during commentary. “You think there’s going to be a duck party there when you see that scorecard,” he said hilariously. “Five ducks!” Shastri went on to say, “It’s unheard of in India—lowest score, bowled out for 46, and all three standing in slips, all out for ducks,” as Kohli, Sarfaraz, and Rahul were later seen in the slips.

India’s choice to field just two fast bowlers and use three spinners while batting first on a rain-damaged ground proved to be costly. Later, skipper Rohit Sharma acknowledged that he had made a mistake and that the circumstances demanded a new strategy. “You see and try to make a judgment,” Rohit remarked in response to the loss. You get it right sometimes and wrong other times. I made the incorrect call this time. Although being bowled out for 46 is painful, these are the difficulties we confront as a team.

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Despite the loss, Rohit maintained his optimism, stressing that occasional mistakes are unavoidable and that difficult choices are a necessary part of the game.