IND vs AUS 2022-23: India succumbed to a 21-run upset in the final Chennai ODI to Australia on Wednesday, losing its first home ODI series in four years. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma called for the need to identify the areas for improvement.
Poor application and its failure to build substantial partnerships was the reason for India's downfall while chasing a target of 270, which was not so hefty, according to skipper Rohit Sharma. After four years, India lost a bilateral One-Day International (ODI) series at home, and Australia, under Aaron Finch, beat Virat Kohli's side in 2019.
"I don't think it was too many runs [269]. The wicket was challenging towards the second half. We didn't bat well. Partnerships are crucial, and we failed to do that today," Sharma voiced after the failure. What he found disappointing was that the Indian players have come up the ranks playing on these slow turners.
"The mode of dismissals... you are born and brought up on these wickets. Sometimes you need to apply yourself and give yourself a chance. One batter needed to carry on and take the game deep. But, all of us were trying our best; it just didn't happen," added Rohit. However, Rohit feels that the nine home ODIs since January have ensured plenty of positives for the 'Men in Blue' ahead of this year's ICC World Cup.
"The nine ODIs we have played since January, we can take a lot of positives from that," he said. But there was no denying that there is much room for improvement. "We need to understand where we need to improve. It's a collective failure. We can take a lot of learnings from this series. Credit to the Australians. Both the spinners applied the pressure, and so did their seamers," Sharma concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)