"Would have connected if he had played it with the turn" - Virat Kohli's childhood coach on Rohit Sharma's dismissal on Day 1 of 3rd IND vs AUS Test

Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma questioned Rohit Sharma's shot selection after the batter was out stumped on Day 1 of the third Test against Australia in Indore on Wednesday.

During a discussion on India News Sports, Rajkumar pointed out how the Indian skipper perished while trying to step out and hit left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann over mid-on.

Rohit managed 12 runs off 23 balls during his brief stay at the crease. Notably, his innings would have come to an end in the very first over itself. He got two lucky reprieves during Mitchell Starc's over as Australia decided against taking a review on both occasions.

Rajkumar Sharma was also unimpressed with Cheteshwar Pujara's shot selection. India's Test specialist was bowled by Nathan Lyon. The veteran coach suggested that one shouldn't play cut short against an off-spinner when the ball is turning a lot.

"Rohit Sharma stepped out and tried to hit the ball towards the mid-on region," he stated. "He would have connected if he had played it with the turn. For Cheteshwar Pujara, it's obvious that you shouldn't try to play the cut to an off-spinner on a turning track.

"I think that the team management and the players wanted to have a positive approach, as it was tough to spend a lot of time at the crease here."

Former wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim, who was also a part of the panel, emphasized that the pitch in Indore was very challenging to bat on. He highlighted that while there was a lot of turn, the odd ball kept very low, making it even tougher for the batters.

He claimed that the surface got slightly better when Australia were batting, indicating that the pitch had settled a little after the morning session.

"It is very difficult for the batters," he added. "We only have seen the stats of how much the ball has turned. But it has also kept low a lot, making it even tougher. Even if are well set at the crease, there is going to be a ball that could behave this way. It was slightly easier for the Australians as they batted well and the wicket too had settled after the first session."

A day to forget at Indore for India 😢

#India #BGT #Cricket https://t.co/iE3ZXGy1lx

India kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were ultimately bowled out for just 109 runs. Virat Kohli (22) and Shubman Gill (21) were the only two batters who were able to cross the 20-run mark.

For Australia, Kuhnemann was the pick of the bowlers as he completed his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

"No point in playing Test matches on such tracks" - Saba Karim on Indore pitch

Criticizing the Indore pitch, Saba Karim further stated that India should not be playing Test matches on such dust bowls. He mentioned that the side have been preparing such wickets for home Tests in order to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

He stressed that India have the firepower to do well on all kinds of tracks and don't have to rely on rank turners to get a favorable result.

"I don't think this is an ideal pitch," he continued. "There is no point in playing Test matches on such tracks, it doesn't matter what the result is. We start preparing such pitches just to qualify for the WTC final. However, we have a very good team that can do well in all conditions."

That's Stumps on Day 1⃣ of the third #INDvAUS Test!

4️⃣ wickets so far for @imjadeja as Australia finish the day with 156/4.

We will be back with LIVE action on Day 2.

Scorecard - bit.ly/INDvAUS-2023-3… #TeamIndia @mastercardindia https://t.co/osXIdrf9iW

Australia have accumulated a crucial 47-run lead. The visitors finished at 156/4 at stumps on Day 1. India still have a chance of turning things around by bowling out the opposition early on the second day.