Indian captain Rohit Sharma has described the team’s 184-run loss to Australia in the fourth Test as “mentally disturbing,” admitting that they failed to fight adequately during the match. With the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy set to begin on January 3 in Sydney, India trails 1-2 in the series. “It is mentally disturbing when you can’t do what you have come to do,” Rohit, whose form has also been questioned, told reporters after the match.
He expressed disappointment, acknowledging that the team fell short in finding a way to win. “It is pretty disappointing. There are ways to win games and we fell short in finding ways to win the game here. We wanted to fight till the end and unfortunately, we couldn’t do it,” he said during the post-match presentation.
Australia, which was floundering at 90 for 6, ultimately built a challenging total for India of 340, while Rohit said: “We could not capitalise on that position.”. “We had Australia 90 for 6. We know things can get tough, but we want to play tough cricket from hard situations. But we were not good enough. I went back to my room and thought about what else we could have done as a team,” he said. “But we threw everything we had, they fought hard, especially that last-wicket partnership, which probably cost us the game there.”
Despite the challenging target, Rohit said India aimed to chase it down but failed to build a platform for success. “We knew 340 wasn’t going to be easy. We tried to set a platform and keep wickets in hand for the last two sessions, but they bowled perfectly as well. We wanted to go for the target, but we didn’t set the platform from our side,” he added.
Rohit Sharma praised Nitish Kumar Reddy for his match-winning century in the first innings and expressed confidence about his potential. “He’s coming here for the first time, these conditions can get really tough, but he showed great character, solid technique as well. He’s got everything to be successful at this level, I hope he goes from strength to strength, and he’s got all the backing from the team as well,” he said.
Rohit also appreciated Jasprit Bumrah, who has done wonderfully, and said: “Absolutely brilliant, We have been watching him for so many years now, coming here and getting the job done. He is not a statistical person. He wants to play for the country and do well for the team, but unfortunately he is not got much support from the other side.”
Meanwhile, Australian skipper Pat Cummins argued for not declaring the second innings, saying it had to be ensured that the victory for India was eliminated. “We wanted to take an India victory out of the equation (on batting on and not declaring). We had plenty of runs to play with, and as many helmets around the bat as we could.”
Record crowds were at each day, with Test match: Cummins lauded one of his best, even calling one of the career’s highlights, “What an amazing Test match, I reckon one of the best I’ve been part of. All week the crowd has been ridiculous and it’s been amazing to be part of,” he said.
Team mates Labuschagne and Smith lauded. “Marnus helped me out in that second innings big time, happy to contribute with the bat as well. Amazing innings from Steve too.”
