Team India had a poor outing on Day 2 of the opening Test against New Zealand at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Opting to bat first, India’s first innings folded for a paltry 46 in 31.2 overs under challenging seaming conditions. It was a listless batting performance as only Rishabh Pant (20) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) managed to reach double figures.

Matt Henry and William Orourke starred with the ball for New Zealand, returning with five wickets and four scalps respectively.

In reply, the visitors ended the second day on 180/3, securing a significant lead of 134 runs with seven wickets in hand. Devon Conway was the top scorer with 91, while Rachin Ravindra (22*) and Daryl Mitchell (14*) remained unbeaten at stumps.

After the close of play, India skipper Rohit Sharma faced the press and answered difficult questions head-on.

"Today was a very bad day for us. We’ve played in tough situations like this before. It was a challenge, but we need these challenges from time to time," Rohit told reporters.

He admitted that choosing to bat first after winning the toss was a mistake, but also stressed that the batters failed to execute their plans.

“You can say that because we were bowled out for 46. It looks like it (we kept playing shots and threw it away). But on these wickets, the seamers get a lot of help. You have to make your game plan as a batting team. We have played on such wickets a lot of times and we have found success on such pitches a lot of times. Every batter has a different plan. Each batter walked into bat with a plan to tackle the bowlers. Everybody knew how the pitch was and what was happening. But, sometimes, in trying to do something, you don't execute your plans well. Today, it was a bad day for us. We have played a lot of such matches in the past. It was a challenge, yes,” Rohit said.

The 37-year-old also held himself accountable for not being able to read the Chinnaswamy pitch properly.

“We felt there was no grass on the pitch. We thought it would do whatever it has to do in the first couple of sessions, and it would take turn as the game went on. That's how whenever we play in India... the first session is always critical and then the wicket tends to settle down and the spinners come into play. As I said, there was not much grass and the reason we thought we would play Kuldeep was he has bowled on flat pitches and he has taken wickets.”

“We expected the pitch to be a little flatter than what it turned out to be. So, clearly misjudgment of the pitch. I didn't read the pitch well enough. And we sit in that situation today,” he explained.

India’s fielding display was below-par during the second day’s play in Bengaluru, and Rohit defended by saying it was “one bad day” in the office for the team.

“It can happen to any team -- one bad day. For you guys also, in the office, there are bad days, right? In the last two Test matches, we have taken good catches. It happens. I won't read too much into it. It's a game and everybody wants to do well. It happens. Don't judge us based on a day,” he remarked.

(With India Today Inputs)