Team India captain Rohit Sharma has thrown his weight behind young fast bowler Harshit Rana, who didn't have the best of the outing in the Adelaide Test against Australia faced a challenging debut Test match in Adelaide. Sharma acknowledged Rana's struggles in the pink-ball Test but emphasized that it would be unfair to judge the young player based on a single performance.
Rohit Sharma backs Harshit Rana despite dismal show in Adelaide
The captain hinted that India will likely keep their options open for the upcoming Test in Brisbane, considering the conditions and the team's overall strategy. Rana's impressive debut performance in Perth, where he claimed three wickets, including the prized scalp of Travis Head, showcased his potential. However, the Adelaide Test proved to be a more difficult challenge, as he failed to make any impact in the game and remained wicketless. Meanwhile, in the post-match press conference, Rohit openly defended Harshit when he was asked about the pacer's performance.
"Rana ne kuch galat nahin kiya tha first Test match mein. Unhone jo bhi kiya, kaafi accha kiya. Crucial breakthroughs jab team ko chahiye they unhone dilaaya. Main believe karta hoon ki kisi ne kuch galat nahin kiya hai toh bina kisi reason ke bahar nahin kiya jaa sakta hai aur karna bhi nahin chahiye. (Rana didn't do anything wrong in the first Test and did well there. Whenever the team needed crucial breakthroughs, he provided it. I feel if a player hasn't done anything wrong, he shouldn't be dropped.)," Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
Australia bulldoze India in 2nd Test
India's second innings ended prematurely, leaving them with a daunting task of defending a low total of 175. Needing just 19 runs to secure a victory, Australia sealed the deal without losing a single wicket.
Resuming their innings on day 3, India's lower order struggled to put up a fight. Nitesh Kumar Reddy's 42-run knock was a lone bright spot as the team lost their last five wickets for 47 runs in a relatively short span. Key players like Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin failed to make significant contributions, further denting India's hopes of any comeback.
In the post-match presentation, Rohit admitted that his team didn't play well and Australia were far better than them. He also said that there were moments in the game where India could have make a comeback but they failed to do that which ultimately cost them the match.
"Disappointing week for us, we didn't play well enough to win the game and Australia played better than us. There were times in the game where we could have grabbed those opportunities but we failed to do that and that cost us the game. What we did in Perth was very special, we wanted to come out here and do that again but every Test match has its own challenge," Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
"We knew it was going to be challenging with the pink ball. Like I said, Australia was better than us. We are quite looking forward to it (Gabba Test), there's not much time in between as well. We want to go out there and think about what we did right in Perth and what we did last time when we were here. Some really good memories there, hopefully we understand the challenges of every Test match. We want to start well and play well," he concluded.
With series locked at 1-1, India will look to bounce back in Brisbane which will host the third Test from December 14.
