synopsis

IND vs AUS 2022-23: India failed to get past the line, losing the third Indore Test to Australia by nine wickets during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma admitted that his side did not try to be brave enough.

India skipper Rohit Sharma on Friday said his team was not brave and lacked application in the third Test against Australia here but described the nine-wicket hammering as "one odd game". Trailing 0-2 in the series and conceding the Border-Gavaskar trophy, Australia fought back vigorously to record a memorable win and secure its place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final on a rank-turner at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

"When you are playing on challenging pitches, you have to bowl. We allowed their bowlers to bowl in one spot. Not to take any credit away from their bowlers, Nathan Lyon especially. We had to try and be brave, which I think we were not," Rohit said at the presentation ceremony.

Lyon returned excellent figures of 8/64 in India's second innings to pave the way for Australia's victory. "One odd game can happen where things don't come together, but you need players to come together and chip in even then. We wanted a few guys to stand up, but it didn't happen. We were slightly behind and did not apply ourselves how we would have liked to," Rohit added.

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Rohit and Co. have yet to start thinking about the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, but he said the team would need to regroup after the heavy defeat quickly. "When you lose a Test match, there's a lot of things that didn't go our way. To start with, we could have batted better in the first innings. We understand the importance of putting runs on the board in the first innings," he asserted.

"And, when they got an 80-90 run lead, we needed to put in a big performance with the bat, but we couldn't. Honestly, we haven't thought about it [Ahmedabad Test] yet. We just finished this Test now, so we must regroup and try. We need to understand that we need to improve as a team," added Rohit.

The hosts were bowled out for 163 in their second innings, leaving Australia with a target of just 76 runs. One of the most prominent architects of the Australian win is seasoned off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who grabbed eight wickets in the Indian second innings on day two of the match.

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"Our bowlers did well, especially [Matthew] Kuhnemann. All our bowlers contributed. Usman [Khwaja] was perfect in the first innings with the bat. We had some good partnerships. India bowled well in the back end. We had a bit of a collapse. We had to toil hard yesterday, Pujji [Pujara] played a good knock, but all our bowlers did well. It was a complete performance in the end," Australia's stand-in skipper Steve Smith said when asked what he would attribute the win to.

Smith stands for regular captain Pat Cummins, who had to fly home after the second Test to be with his ailing mother. "We are thinking of Patty back home. Our thoughts are with him. But I enjoyed this week. I like captaining this part of the world. I understand a lot of the intricacies," he sounded.

"It's a place I enjoy, and I did a reasonable job this week. The approach will be much the same. We have to see what the conditions are like. It's good to be in the WTC final, but it's just about playing good cricket," added Smith. Man of the Match Lyon was at his best as he spun a web around the Indian batters on the second day, which tilted the match in Australia's favour.

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The seasoned off-spinner said his belief in his stock ball immensely helped him. "It's been a pretty remarkable series. But coming out here and putting out a good team performance was pretty special. I don't have all the skills and tricks in the trade, but I believe in my stock ball," he considered.

"And, I think if you have that, you can get success. I don't think I've mastered it. I've been lucky enough to challenge against some of the best players to play the game, the likes of Virat, Pujji and the other guys. I like challenging myself," Lyon concluded.

(With inputs from PTI)