"We did not apply ourselves the way we would have liked to" - Rohit Sharma after defeat in 3rd IND vs AUS Test

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma rued that they didn't apply themselves properly in the third Test against Australia at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. The Aussies bounced back after losing the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi.

The tourists needed only 76 runs to win the third Test. They lost the wicket of Usman Khawaja before Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne stitched together an unbeaten 78-run stand to take the team home.

Rohit highlighted that the players couldn't chip in with significant performances in the third Test and failed to apply themselves.

"One odd game can happen where things don't come together, but even then you need players to come together and chip in," he said at the post-match presentation ceremony. "We wanted a few guys to stand up but it didn't happen. We were slightly behind and did not apply ourselves the way we would have liked to."

Australia win the Third Test by 9 wickets.

#TeamIndia 🇮🇳 will aim to bounce back in the fourth and final #INDvAUS Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad 👍🏻👍🏻

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/INDvAUS-2023-3… @mastercardindia https://t.co/M7acVTo7ch

India had a sub-par campaign with the bat. They scored 109 runs in the first innings and could only muster 163 runs in the second essay. Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest run-scorer for the home side with 59 runs.

The top-order failed for the third time in a row. Shubman Gill, who replaced under-fire KL Rahul in the playing XI, failed to make the most of the opportunity, returning with scores of 21 and five in two innings.

"There are a lot of things that didn’t go our way" - Rohit Sharma

Australia’s last 3 Test wins in India

- Indore, March 2023 (Under Smith)
- Pune, Feb 2017 (Under Smith)
- Nagpur, Oct 2004 (Under Gilchrist)

In the last 10 years, India’s W/L ratio at home has now dropped to 12 from 18. Next best during this phase at home is Australia, with 6.2

Rohit Sharma further stated that a lot of things didn't go their way in terms of batting in the recently concluded Test.

"Yeah when you lose a Test match there are a lot of things that didn’t go our way," he said. "We didn’t bat well in the first innings. We understand the importance of getting runs in the 1st innings. When they got a 80-run lead we needed to bat well in the 2nd innings which didn’t really happen."

With the series tied at 2-1 in favor of India, Australia will look to continue their winning run in the final Test in Ahmedabad.