IND vs AUS | Won’t regret my dismissal, it was part of my role in the team, states Rohit Sharma

After being ruled out of the first two Tests, Rohit Sharma returned to the Indian Test lineup, at the expense of Mayank Agarwal. Since his return to the Indian setup, the Mumbaikar has certainly impressed in his new role away from home, putting on a show alongside Shubman Gill. While he got off to a strong start in the Sydney Test, with 26 and 52, he failed to convert the start into a substantial score. 

In Gabba, it was no different, as Rohit once again gave away a good start, holing out to the deep fielder attacking Nathan Lyon, with the right-handed batting on 44. Whilst there was enough criticism from around the corner regarding his shot, Rohit in the post-day press conference stated that he won’t regret his dismissal. 

“No I reached the pitch of the ball but I couldn’t get the right touch on it. I wanted to pierce the boundary but I couldn’t achieve it and that’s pretty much it. I actually liked how I batted, we knew that it was going to be a good batting pitch, there will be some bounce,” said Rohit in the post-day press conference. 

Post his shot, former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar tore the opener apart, stating that was a ‘reckless’ shot from the settled batsman. Rohit insisted that it was part of his role in the team to attack the bowlers and unsettle them early on in the innings, a role previously donned by Mayank Agarwal during the 2018 series. 

“But once I was in, there wasn’t much swing and then had to adjust a little, which helped me to get on to the ball. Lyon mixed it up and bowled to my body, which made it difficult to get the elevation on the ball. It was an unfortunate dismissal, I won’t regret it though, that’s my role in the team. The run-scoring has become slightly difficult in the middle-order. You should be ready to accept the mistake and I’m ready to accept it but I have no regret,” he added.

Rohit also credited the role of the two debutants - Washington Sundar and T Natarajan with the ball, adding that they showed real character and discipline to pull off things against the hosts. 

“I think it was a great effort from both the debutants (Washington and Natarajan). They played some first-class game before coming here. But playing against Australia in Australia is never going to be easy. They showed some character and performed well. Once we knew we didn’t have Saini, then we realised how to put pressure on the batsmen. It was a nice pitch to bat and nice bounce. They showed great character and discipline, both of them,” said Rohit about the debutants.