Adelaide : Following the loss against Australia in the second Test at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, India skipper Rohit Sharma opened up on the reasons behind the national team's loss in the day-night (pink-ball) Test match.
Travis Head's scintillating century at home, accompanied by brilliant bowling performances from Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins led Australia to a 10-wicket win at the Adelaide Oval. The victory also ensured Australia reclaimed their place atop the WTC25 standings.
India captain Rohit Sharma acknowledged that his team underperformed, failing to replicate their success from the opening Test in Perth. He praised Australia for capitalizing on their chances and emphasized the importance of bouncing back in the third Test at the Gabba.
"A disappointing week for us, we didn't play well, and Australia played better cricket than us and won the Test match. We failed to grab our opportunities. We didn't bat well enough, probably 30-40 runs short with the bat in the first innings. There were opportunities when Australia were batting and we failed to take those chances. When you miss those chances, it's never easy," Rohit remarked in the post-match press conference as quoted by the ICC.
Speaking about the challenges that the pink ball posed in the Test, Rohit said: "You know when you come to Australia, you have to play a pink-ball Test. You have to be mentally ready to bat under different conditions. It can be difficult but that cannot be an excuse. The conditions are for both teams, they batted well and got the runs. We didn't bat well enough to get enough runs."
Shedding light on the next Test in Brisbane, Rohit offered a tone of positivity and referred to the team's past success at the venue.
India has dropped to third in the WTC standings and the Gabba will be the perfect place to turn the tide back in India's favour, considering their success at the venue last time out.
"We are looking forward to it (Gabba Test). Some really good memories there. We want to start well and play well. There's not much time in between as well. You know we just want to go out there and think about what we did right, you know in Perth and also what we did last time when we were here," the 37-year-old said.
The last time India played a Test at the Gabba, Rishabh Pant's warrior-esque unbeaten 89* to chase down 328 handed Australia their first loss at the stadium since 1988, and also a 2-1 series win for the visitors.