IND vs AUS: Rohit Sharma's India went down in the final of the World Test Championship against Australia at The Oval as the Men in Blue suffered a 209-run drubbing in the one-off Test. After getting a target of 444 in the summit clash, India were folded for 234 with none of the batters crossing the fifty mark in the chase. Meanwhile, Indian captain Rohit Sharma has opened up on two big reasons for India's loss to the Aussies.
Speaking to the Broadcasters after the game, Sharma stated that the Indian team was caught wanting in the bowling in the first innings after making a strong start with the ball. "I think we began well with winning the toss, putting them to bat in those conditions. We were good with the ball in the first session and then we let ourselves down with how we bowled. We need to give credit to the Australian batters. Head came in and played really well along with Steven Smith. That just took us off guard a little bit," Rohit said after the loss.
Head and Smith joined hands when Australia were at 76/3. The duo toiled the Indian bowlers and stitched a 285-run stand for the fourth wicket. This took Australia to a mammoth 469. Sharma heaped praise on Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur's batting effort in the first innings and also stated that the team was not good with the bat in the second innings.
"I think it was a great fightback from Rahane and Shardul after we were 5 down for 150. They stood up and put up a good partnership there and kept us in the hunt. We bowled pretty well in the second innings. But then again we didn't apply ourselves with the bat. It was a good surface to bat on. All five days the pitch behaved pretty well and we didn't capitalise," Sharma said.
Sharma also highlighted that it's a great effort for India to reach in WTC Finals two consecutive times. "It's a disappointment for us. We would like to go one better. But you cannot take anything away from what we've done in the two years. It's a great effort. A lot of players took part in those series. We'll keep our heads high and fight for the next championship as well," Sharma concluded.
