Rohit disagrees with Shastri's assessment of India's performance in third Test

Ahmedabad, Mar 08, 2023, IANS

On the eve of the final Test, captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday called former coach Ravi Shastri's assessment of India's performance in the third Test against Australia as 'absolutely rubbish', saying that the people outside don't know what sort of talk happens in the dressing room.

After taking a 2-0 lead, India suffered a nine-wicket loss in the third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Indore and Shastri had said that hosts were overconfident and complacent going into the game.

"Honestly, when you win two games if people outside feel that we are overconfident, it's absolutely rubbish. Because you want to do your best in all four games. You don't want to stop by winning just two games, it is as simple as that," Rohit said in the pre-match press conference.

"All these guys, when they talk about being overconfident and all that, especially the guys who are not part of the dressing room, they don't know what sort of talk happens in the dressing room," he added.

The 35-year-old went on to add how the team's mindset was based around being ruthless to opponents.

"Ruthless is the word that comes to my mind. Not to give an inch to the opposition when they are playing, especially when they're touring abroad. And that is exactly what we have also experienced when we have toured outside. The opposition will never let you come into the game, never let you come into the series. And that is the mindset we have as well," he said.

"We want to do our best in all the games. If it seems overconfident or anything like that to the outsiders, it doesn't really matter to us. Ravi himself has been in this dressing room, and he knows what sort of mindset we have when we play as well. It's about being ruthless, not being overconfident," he added.

When discussing Australia's spin attack, Rohit was full of praise for the up-and-coming Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann.

"Both have looked good. Murphy in the first game got seven wickets and Kuhnemann got a five-for in the last Test. So obviously, they have got the potential to exploit these conditions, and obviously when you have an attacking spinner in Nathan Lyon, you need someone from the other end to complement as well," the Indian captain said.

"These guys have shown that they can handle the pressure. It's not easy to come out and get the job done after two losses. But both showed that they had the temperament to handle the pressure in the middle.

They were very calm. They pitched the ball in the right areas, let the batsman guess and make mistakes. And it really worked for them. They've got the potential to play at the highest level and they've shown the same," he added.