Unhappy Rohit Sharma laments not applying better with bat, admits it’s not easy to comeback from this loss

For the second time in past four years India lost an ODI game by ten wickets against Australia at home. This time the batting was to be questioned as India’s innings got wrapped on a mere 117 in just 26 overs. While left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc was the protagonist for Australia, picking up a five-wicket haul, openers Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh further hurt the hosts with quickfire fifties. Watching all of this getting unfolded Indian captain Rohit Sharma was unhappy with his team’s performance on Sunday.

Speaking to the media after another embarrassing thrashing at the hands of the Aussies, Rohit said the batters didn’t apply themselves better. He further expressed disappointment over putting up 117 on a pitch he felt had more to offer for the batters.

“If you lose a game, it is just disappointing. We didn’t apply ourselves with the bat. Didn’t put enough runs on the board. It wasn’t a 117 wicket. We kept losing wickets and that didn’t allow us to get the runs we wanted,” Rohit said.

India got off to a shaky start after being asked to bat first, losing Shubman Gill early in the first over. Rohit and Virat Kohli added some runs before Starc returned to put India on the back foot with three quick wickets.

“Once we lost Shubman in the first over, myself and Virat got 30-35 runs quickly. But then I lost my wicket and we lost a couple of wickets back to back. That put us on the back foot. It’s always tough to come back from that situation. Today wasn’t the day for us,” the India captain said.

Later, following Virat’s dismissal, the lower order and the tail was left to deal with Aussie pacers. Courtesy of an all-around bowling show that included a ninth ODI five-for for Starc, Australia dismissed India on 117.

“Starc is a quality bowler. He has been doing it for Australia with the new ball. He kept bowling to his strength and kept falling to it. He swung the new ball and took the odd ball away. He kept the batters guessing,” Rohit added.

The chase, however, was more daunting to watch for the fans inside the stadium as the new-looking opening pair slammed the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh unleashed the attack on the opposition and returned with quickfire fifties to their names while chasing the target in just 11 overs. Where Head scored 51 off 30 balls, hitting ten fours, Marsh, the aggressor, smoked six sixes and as many boundaries in his 36-ball 66-run knock.

“Marsh has to be one of the top players going around when it comes to power hitting. He backs himself to do that every now and then. Definitely in top 3 and 4 when it comes to power hitting,” Rohit while praising Australia’s new make-shift opener in ODIs.

As the three-match ODI series is tied at 1-1 as things stand, the decider in Chennai is slated to take place on March 22nd.