Aakash Chopra blames defensive Rohit Sharma for India’s loss in Adelaide

India were hammered by Australia in the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, the Indian team lost by 10 wickets against Pat Cummins Australia. This was Rohit’s 4th Test match loss on the bounce, which put him in an unfortunate list alongside Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra slammed Rohit Sharma for his defensive captaincy in Australia and said that Rohit’s defensive captaincy allowed the game to drift away from the Indian team. Speaking on his YouTube channel Chopra said that Rohit’s captaincy has been consistently poor over the last four Test matches.

Chopra specifically pointed out to India’s Day 2 exploits in the Test match. Rohit had given Jasprit Bumrah only 4 overs in the morning session and had taken him out of the attack. This allowed Australia to cut loose and put up a massive 337-run total in the first innings.

“Jasprit Bumrah had bowled a four-over spell and had already picked up a wicket in that. So why did he bowl only four overs, and didn’t bowl after that at all? He didn’t bowl in the entire session. So you are 100 percent right when you say that you missed a trick in captaincy. Rohit’s captaincy – let’s call a spade a spade. We saw defensive captaincy. He allowed the match to drift,” Chopra added.

IND vs AUS, 2nd Test: Highlights | Full Scorecard

IND vs AUS: Australia crush India in pink ball Test

Australia needed just two days and one session to shatter India’s confidence and storm back into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. With a belligerent century from Travis Head and hostile spells by Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, Australia thrashed India by 10 wickets to level the five-match series 1-1, securing a dominant victory on Day 3 – Sunday, December 8.

Fired up after the sting of their 295-run drubbing in the series opener in Perth, Australia came out all guns blazing to defend their pink-ball fortress. And they did so in emphatic style, ripping through the Indian batting line-up on Sunday afternoon. India were bundled out for 175, adding just 47 runs to their overnight total, as captain Pat Cummins joined the pink-ball party with a five-wicket haul.

IND vs AUS, 2nd Test: Match Report

In reply, Australia remained unscathed and secured their 19-run target in just 3.2 overs. Travis Head was named the player of the match for his sensational 140 runs on Day 2 of the pink ball Test match.

India captains who have lost 4 or more Test matches in a row

6 MAK Pataudi (1967-68)
5 Sachin Tendulkar (1999-00)
4 Datta Gaekwad (1959)
4 MS Dhoni (2011)
4 MS Dhoni (2014)
4 Virat Kohli (2020-21)
4 Rohit Sharma (2024)*

“He wasn’t the captain in the Perth match. So that win doesn’t count for him. If we leave the last century, it’s Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit, and the biggest concerning thing, which might not be with anyone else, is three consecutive losses at home. The captaincy has been a little lackluster,” Chopra added.

India will next meet Australia in Brisbane, at the iconic Gabba for their 3rd Test match of the series.

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