India vs New Zealand | We know we played well below our potential, admits Sanjay Bangar

The Indian cricket team were left embarrassed as they fell to their first defeat in the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand. In the absence of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma-led India succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat against the hosts’ after being bowled out for a measly 92 from 31 overs. Sanjay Bangar admitted that the Indian batsmen were well below their usual standards in the loss on Thursday but added that it was an ‘odd’ failure, something that does not happen very often.

"It was a one-off game for us. We know we played well below our potential and our expected levels, the boys realise it and we just need to put that game behind and look to the next game.

"It gives us an opportunity to reflect in case if we miss out players due to fitness issues. World Cup will be a long tournament, there will be injuries and players are going to miss out and it gives us a reflection as to how players will cope up in their absence and we were found wanting in that situation in the last game. But they are quality players, even in the third game, Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu had stitched a partnership of 82 to finish the game, so we can't really draw too many conclusion after one-odd failure," Bangar said as per PTI sources.

While Kohli has been allowed to leave the squad and get some much-required rest, Dhoni missed out on the fourth match with a sore hamstring issue. Kiwi pacer Trent Boult starred for the hosts’ as he ripped apart the Indian batting line-up in a devastating spell.

Bangar, who has also coached IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab in the past, also added that the Indian management is looking to rotate the starting XI in order to give peripheral players an opportunity to prove their merit.

"We are trying to balance out opportunities, trying to keep them hot and give them enough game time. This is a conscious effort especially in Australia and here where we have rotated our players.

"There are going to be time where a player doesn't get 5-6 games on a row, so we are trying to make that balance. In the number of games that we had we have made sure that everybody is getting some sort of hit by rotating the players around," Bangar added.

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