Melbourne, Dec 30 (IANS) The aftermath of India’s crushing 184-run defeat in the Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne saw Rohit Sharma facing tough questions about his future as a Test cricketer and a leader. During the post-match press conference, the Indian skipper admitted that both his batting and captaincy had fell short of expectations.
Rohit’s individual form has been a glaring issue, with just 31 runs in five innings in the series and a mere 123 runs across his last six Tests. His captaincy record has also come under scrutiny, with India winless in their last six Tests under his leadership, including a historic 0-3 whitewash at home against New Zealand in October-November.
“We had the opportunity today to pull the game in our favour or draw it, Still a game to go, if we play well, it’ll be 2-2. I stand where I am standing today. Nothing to think what has happened in the past. Lot of things I am trying to do as a batter are not falling into place. You want to come here and try to do things successfully. When it doesn’t come off, it is disappointing,” Rohit told reporters.
Rohit also talked about the controversy surrounding Yashasvi Jaiswal’s dismissal, which sparked widespread debate. Jaiswal, batting on 84, was controversially given out after a DRS review despite no clear evidence from Snicko.
“I don’t know what to make of that because the technology didn’t show anything. From naked eye, it showed it touched something. I don’t know what the umpires want to use. In all fairness, he did touch the ball. We don’t want to look too much into that. We are just falling on the wrong side of it,” he said.
India now heads to the New Year’s Test in Sydney, needing a win to level the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rohit emphasised the importance of the final Test, saying, “There are things that we, as a team, need to look at, and I personally need to look at as well. We will try and see what happens.”
–IANS
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