Former India captain and head coach, Ravi Shastri didn’t mince his words when he talked about the team’s recent loss in the MCG Test in BGT 2024. He targetted Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma during his analysis of India’s 184-run loss.
Set 340 to win the match on the final day, India lost Rohit Sharma (9), KL Rahul (0), and Virat Kohli (5) to leave the team 33/3. Then Yashasvi Jaiswal (84) and Rishabh Pant (30) added 88 runs for the 4th wicket, taking India to 121/3.
Then Rishabh Pant had a brain fade and got out trying to hit Travis Head and Australia pounced on the opportunity. India lost the last 7 wickets for 35 runs and was bowled out 155, losing the Test by 184 runs.
Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri shared his thoughts on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's performances in the ongoing series.
"Virat batted well in the first innings. He'll be disappointed with the way he's getting out because there's a pattern—driving outside the off stump. He could leave those deliveries. As far as Rohit Sharma goes, at times we've seen in the series that his front foot isn't really moving towards the ball as much as it should. There’s a trigger movement, but then the leg stays planted.
Mitchell Starc set Virat Kohli up beautifully. An over before that, there were some good leaves from Virat, but they were challenging the off stump. And here, he floated one outside, tempting Virat—'should I leave it, should I play'—just before lunch. Virat would have been very disappointed," Shastri said on Star Sports.
Ravi Shastri also called Rishabh Pant’s dismissal the turning point of the match.
"I think the turning point was the wicket of Rishabh Pant. They knew they couldn't win the game by lunchtime once they lost three wickets. The only chance you have of winning is if there’s a platform set, exactly what Rohit said in the press conference. And then, when Rishabh Pant got out after tea, that lifted the Australians. That was the opening they were looking for, and they made sure to capitalize on it," he concluded.
Pat Cummins and Scott Boland took 3 wickets each as Australia went into the final Test in Sydney 2-1 up in the series. India needs to win the fifth Test, which begins on January 3rd, to keep their WTC 2025 final hopes alive.
