'Former cricketers did not...': Rohit Sharma on ex-players' rant on Indore Test pitch after India's defeat

Australia defeated India by nine wickets on Day 3 of the third and penultimate Test, in Indore, to keep the 2022/23 Border-Gavaskar Trophy alive, with the scoreline being 2-1 in hosts' favour. A lot has been said and written about the nature of the pitch on offer at the Holkar Stadium, Indore where the match ended in less than three complete days. After the game, captain Rohit Sharma reacted to all such noises around the Indore pitch.

The likes of Matthew Hayden, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Clarke, etc. opined on the pitch ever since the Test commenced on Wednesday (March 01). While 14 wickets fell on the opening day, as many as 16 fell on Day 2. At the post-match presser, Rohit reacted to all such criticism and revealed thatit was Indian team'scollective decisionto play on such surfaces despite being aware of the challenges.

Rohit said, "Former cricketers did not play on pitches like this. So I don't know. Like I said, this is the kind of pitch we wanted to play in and this is our strength. When you play in home, you want to play to your strength and not worry about what people outside are speaking about. And had we not gotten results, we would have thought otherwise."

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Hitman pointed out how it is important to laud Nathan Lyon (Player-of-the-Match for his 11-wicket haul including 8 for 64 in India's second innings) and not just talk about the pitch. "This pitch talk is getting too much. Every time we play in India, the focus is only on pitch. Why are people not asking me about Nathan Lyon and how well he bowled? Or, how well Pujara batted in the second innings? Or, how well Usman Khawaja played? Those are the things I can give you a details on, but not on pitch because it is absolutely not necessary,” Rohit added.

Also Read:Updated ICC World Test Championship points table after Australia beat India in Indore

At the post-match presentation, Rohit also highlighted how India should tackle such tough batting surfaces. "We need to keep it simple and follow the plan. When you are playing on challenging pitches, we need to be brave. We allowed their bowlers to bowl on one particular spot. Not taking any credit away from their bowlers. especially Nathan Lyon, he kept challenging us hitting the right lengths. When the bowler is trying to do that, gotta be a little brave which I thought we were not," he said.

The fourth and final Test gets underway in Ahmedabad on March 09. Australia have already qualified for the WTC final whereas India still need a win to not depend on other results and march into the summit clash, to be held in early June in London.