The 184-run defeat in the Boxing Day Test has put India in a must-win situation ahead of the New Year’s Test in Sydney, to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which they have held for more than a decade now.

The Indian team, led by Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance and rising star Nitish Kumar Reddy’s maiden Test century, fought well in the past three days at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that witnessed unprecedented footfall during the epic clash, but eventually the tourists were well and truly outplayed by Pat Cummins’ side, who made the most of a handy first-innings lead.

Advertisement

Like the remainder of the series, India’s senior batters Virat Kohli (167 runs at 27.83) and captain Rohit Sharma (31 runs at 6.2) failed to get going with a cumulative score of 53 from their four outings in the match.

Speaking to the reporters in the post-match presser, skipper Rohit owned responsibility as a captain and as a batter.

“There is nothing to think about what has happened in the past. Obviously, a few results have not gone our way, as a captain, yes, that is disappointing, and yes, as a batter as well,” Rohit said.

Rohit added that he had tried to iron out the issues, but things had not fallen into place.

“You know, a lot of the things that I’m trying to do are not falling in the place that I would want to, but mentally you know it is disturbing without a doubt, if you’ve come here and try and want to do successfully what you’re supposed to, and if those things don’t fall in place, that is a big disappointment.”

If India fail to secure a win in Sydney, they’d lose to Australia for the first time in 10 years in the format, and will also be out of contention for a World Test Championship final spot.

Rohit was well aware of this reality and wanted to push forth for a win in the final Test, to secure a drawn series.

“As of now, that is where it is, and there are things that, we as a team need to look at. I personally need to look at as well,” Rohit said.

“So we’ll try and see what happens, there’s still a game to go, and if we can play that game well. You know it’s 2-2. A draw will be really nice.”

Despite the short changeover to the Sydney Test, Rohit wanted the side to keep working on improvements.

“There’s not enough time, but there are a lot of things that didn’t go our way. Obviously, we have to look at those things, try and see what we can correct, that we didn’t do well as a team, as players, as individuals as well.”

“Not giving up, and when we turn up in Sydney, we should make sure to use that momentum towards us,” he said.

Rohit also opened up on Rishabh Pant’s dismissal early in the third session. The southpaw’s wicket while going for a big shot against part-time Travis Head ended his set partnership, and was the beginning of India’s collapse, where the side slipped from 121/3 to 155 all out.

Rohit stated that there was a thin line between aggressive batting with outcomes and reckless stroke play, but it was Pant who was supposed to understand his game best and go for the shots accordingly.

“More than anyone of us telling him, he needs to figure out what is the right way to go about it. In the past, he has given us a lot of success, doing what he has done. As a captain, there is a lot of mixed thoughts [on it].

“Sometimes you want to back his way, and sometimes when it doesn’t look good, it frustrates everyone. But that’s the reality of it.”

Despite India’s loss, their pace ace Japsrit Bumrah continued to shine, picking nine wickets in the match to go over 200 Test wickets.

However, the bowler delivered 53.2 overs throughout the Melbourne Test and has bowled 141.2 overs in the series, the most for any bowler on either side.

While Bumrah has been the strike bowler, others from the India setup haven’t managed to provide key breakthroughs regularly, which has meant that Rohit has gone time and again to Bumrah for wickets.

However, the skipper clarified that the management had an eye on Bumrah’s fitness throughout the series.

“He has bowled a lot of overs, there’s no doubt about it. But every Test match we play, we keep that in mind. In fact, [we keep in mind] the workload of all the bowlers,” the captain said.

“When somebody is in good form, you want to maximise it. That’s what we’ve tried with Bumrah. But there comes a time when you need to step back, and give him a little bit of breather.

“I’ve been very careful. I talk to him about how he feels [while bowling], those things should be managed carefully. I am trying to do that on the field,” he added.

The final Test of the five-game series begins on January 3 in Sydney.