‘There is nothing wrong with pitches’: Rohit Sharma blames poor batting show for defeat against Australia

After a match that ended in less than three days in India-Australia series in Indore, Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma angrily responded to criticisms surrounding the pitch talk by saying that there is nothing wrong with the surface, but the batsmen are not able to make runs in spin-friendly pitches, reported India Today.

This comes after the pitches in Nagpur and Delhi also drew flak for being tough for batters as the ball was swinging quite fast in those pitches.

“This pitch talk is getting just a bit too much. Every time we play in India, there’s only focus on the pitch. Why are people not asking me about Nathan Lyon. How well he bowled. How well Pujara batted in the second innings. How well Usman Khawaja played,” Sharma said in the press conference.

India suffered a 9-wicket loss against Australia in the Indore test. After the defeat, Sharma gave an example of a test match between South Africa and West Indies in Centurion to say that India is not the only country where test matches finish within two days.

It is important to note that the Brisbane Test where Australia locked horns with South Africa in 2022-23, also ended in just 2 days with Australia sealing a 6-wicket win.

Besides that, Sharma highlighted that the match between Pakistan and Australia in Pakistan got over in 5 days, but the series was termed ‘boring’ by many.

"What can I say about that, people have to play well for the game to last five days," Rohit Sharma said when asked about the early finishes to all 3 Tests.

"Games are not lasting for five days outside India as well. Yesterday the game got over in three days in South Africa. It is about skills. People have to adapt to skills. If pitches are helping the bowlers, the batters need to try and test their skills.

"It is not always about making sure we are playing on flat pitches and results don't come your way. Pakistan, there were Test matches there and people said it was boring, We are making it interesting for you guys," he said.

Criticising batsmen for not playing well against Australia, Sharma said that India's defeat to Australia happened due to poor batting and pitch should not be blamed for that.

India won the toss and opted to bat first in Indore,  scoring just 107 runs in the first innings. Meanwhile, Australia took a lead by 88 runs in the second innings and then bowled out India at just 163.

In the first innings, Virat Kohli scored 22 to become the top scorer while Cheteshwar Pujara  fought till the end to take India to the score of just 163 runs.

"Honesty both the innings did not go the way we would have liked to. Even in the first innings, I don't think there was a lot happening. If you look at the dismissals we played poorly. Out of the 10 wickets may one or two where the pitch did help the bowler," he added.

"Other than that, it was the skill of the bowlers who outfoxed the batsman. We played poor shots as well. The way Australia played, they got out for 197. Had they not collapsed they could have gotten to 250-75 as well which would have been a damn good score on a pitch like that.

"Lack of concentration is what I would put it to. Apply yourself and bat for as long as possible and take odd chances in the middle. Do not let the bowler bowl six balls in the same spot and try to do something different, that is something we did not do in both the innings."

India will compete against Australia in the 4th Test from March 9 in Ahmedabad.

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