New Zealand scrupted  a historic 3-0 Test series sweep against India, taking six crucial wickets in the third Test to secure a thrilling 25-run victory on Sunday. Apart from Rishabh Pant  no other Indian batter managed to withstand the pressure created by the Kiwi spinners. India captain Rohit Sharma also admitted after the match that his team failed to fire collectively.

"Yeah, absolutely, you know, losing a series, losing a Test is never easy, it's something that's not easily digestible," Rohit said while speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony. "Again, we didn't play our best cricket, we know and we have to accept. They (New Zealand) did so much better than us. We made a lot of mistakes and we'll have to accept it. We didn't put enough runs on the board in the 1st innings (in Bengaluru and Pune) and we were behind in the game, here, we got a 30-run lead, we thought we were ahead, the target was achievable as well, we had to do better though."

When asked about his own performances, particularly from the attacking style point of view that Rohit displayed throughout the series, he admitted that such things don't look good when teams don't win."You want runs on the board as well, that's something that was there in my mind (on his own batting today), it didn't come off and when it happens, it doesn't look great. There are certain ideas on my mind when I go to bat, but in this series, it didn't come off and that's disappointing for me," he said.

Rohit Sharma said, "It is quite tough. It tells you that nothing is easy in life. One day you are at a high, and one day, you are not. This is what I have learnt in my life. It is important for me to understand that life is not all about highs, it is about lows as well."Something like this will be a very low point in my career, having lost 3 matches at home. I fully take responsibility of that as a captain and leader. I have not been at the best of my abilities right from the start of the series. With the bat as well, I have not been good enough," he added.

The hosts failed to get going in the entire series, suffering one collapse after another on wickets that had something in them for the spinners. Mitchell Santner first made full use of the conditions in Pune, and in the final Test in Mumbai, it was Ajaz Patel who wreaked havoc, taking 11 wickets. With this series loss against New Zealand, India now have their task cut out in the World Test Championship final race. One more defeat could mean curtains for the two-time runner-ups. Rohit and Co. will now travel to Australia for the five-match Test series. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins November 22 in Perth.