India captain Rohit Sharma was asked if Australia’s defeat in Adelaide had a lasting impact on the Indian psyche as Australia leveled the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 1-1. He said it was not that dramatic. Sharma said in the press conference, ‘First of all, this is not a (mental) scar, we have lost the Test match.
On Sunday, he may have found hope in a nugget of wisdom coming out of Cheteshwar Pujara who told Cricinfo that he was happy with Indian intent, but added the behavior of their back-of-length deliveries was found to be lacking.
Sharma said, ‘We did not play well. “So it’s important in the short term that we have a few things to figure out before the next Test match. It’s still one-all and a lot of things left in this series and definitely a way for us to get back into it,” he added before heading to Brisbane where Saturday’s third The test will begin.
Acknowledging that Australia played better than India in Adelaide and that the Indian batting needs to be strengthened, Sharma said, “When you come to Australia, I think the best chance to win a Test match is to put runs on the board. And of course, when we won the toss, we chose to bat. We knew there were challenges. But in the past, where the conditions have been a bit challenging, we have batted really well to try and put runs on the board and then put pressure on the opposition. “
Although both the batting strip and Australia’s bowling denied the Indian batsmen that cushioning, Sharma said he took hope from Perth’s fightback in the second innings where the openers fired and were resilient. “(The success) Jaiswal and KL (Rahul) did to get that 200 partnership (in Perth),” Sharma said, looking for inspiration.
In the pink ball Test, India were bundled out for 175 in the second innings and finished on 180 in the first and failed to cross 200.
No Indian batsman has managed to score 50 runs and the skipper said a lot of work has to be done.
In his post-match comments, Sharma said the team was looking forward to the Gabba Test. “There are some really good memories. We want to get off to a good start and play well,” added later at the presser that batting needs attention. The 37-year-old admitted, “We expect everyone to rise to the challenge. I’m not worried. If you take the last 5-6 games, we haven’t batted well, I agree.
Saturday, 2021 hero Cheteshwar Pujara while talking to Cricinfo pointed out an interesting pattern. “Their intentions were really good. They were very positive. They forced the bowlers to move their length because they were pitching it,” he added. Couldn’t face it. Most of our top-order outs, except for Yashasvi, got out on a back-length ball, and Gill didn’t Fuller is out on the ball.
“That’s why we didn’t tackle well behind the length ball, which is key, especially with the new ball,” he told Cricinfo’s knowledge bank. With a pink ball and I feel that middle order can bat a bit better.