New Delhi: India failed to latch on to the chances in the day-night Test at Adelaide resulting in their 10-wicket loss to Australia on Sunday, rued skipper Rohit Sharma.
India had won the first Test at Perth by 295 runs but Australia levelled the series at Adelaide in only two and half days, which was the shortest-ever Test between the two teams in terms of balls bowled.
India began the day at 128/5, with Nitish Kumar Reddy’s 42 denying Australia an innings victory as their struggles to play the punk ball under lights were evident.
Australia need only 19 runs to win and they completed the formality in only 3.2 overs, leaving India with a lot to ponder about before the third Test that begins in Brisbane on December 14.
Asked to summarise their defeat, India skipper Rohit Sharma said: “We didn’t bat well, they batted well – That was the difference”.
“Disappointing week for us. We didn’t play well enough to win the game and Australia played better than us. There were times in the game where we could have grabbed those opportunities but we failed to do that and that has cost us the game.”
Rohit was among the batters who failed in both the innings after rejoining the squad after skipping the first Test as he was on paternity leave.
“Yeah absolutely, I mean look you know what we did in Perth was very very special and we wanted to come out here and do that again but again we know that every Test match has its own challenge.
“We knew it was going to be challenging with the pink ball but again like I said you know Australia was better than us,” he said.
‘Need other apart from Bumrah’
Rohit observed that too much onus is on Jasprit Bumrah to be India’s strike bowler, as others need to step up to the occasion as well. In India’s 10-wicket loss, Bumrah was the stand-out bowler with a four-wicket haul in Australia’s first innings.
“Jasprit Bumrah cannot alone take responsibility. You don’t expect him to bowl from both ends. The other guys also needs to step in and share the responsibility. There will be days when Bumrah won’t get wickets,” Rohit said, adding that Harshit Rana shouldn’t be blamed for conceding too many runs.
Australia beat India in the second Test at Adelaide by 10 wickets, winning in only two and half days, making it the shortest-ever Test between the two teams in terms of balls bowled. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
