India captain Shubman Gill praised predecessor Rohit Sharma’s 73-run knock against Australia on Thursday, adding that it’s never easy playing after a long gap but Rohit had fought well. The 25-year-old also said that Rohit missed out on an even bigger knock.
“Never easy, coming back and playing after a long time. The initial phase was challenging, but very pleased with how he batted. He fought out well; I would say he missed out on a really big knock,” the India skipper said.
The skipper, however, rued the dropped catches in the match which ultimately ended up costing India the series as Australia won the second ODI by 2 wickets and sealed the 3-match series with a game to spare. India spilled as many as 3 catches with Matthew Short’s dropped chance leading to the batter scoring 74 runs off 78 deliveries.
“We had just enough runs on the board. Never easy when you drop a couple of chances to be able to defend that kind of a total,” Gill said during the post-match presentation ceremony. “In the first game, the toss was more crucial because of the rain, but in this one both teams played for almost 50 overs. The wicket did a little early on, but it settled nicely after 15–20 overs,” he added on the pitch.
Short and Cooper Connolly struck fluent fifties as Australia clinched the three-match ODI series with a convincing two-wicket win over India. Put in to bat, India posted a modest 264 for nine despite skipper Rohit’s return to form with a 97-ball 73 (7×4, 2×6). Shreyas Iyer contributed 61while Adam Zampa got 4 for 60. Xavier Bartlett took 3 for 39 including Virat Kohli for a duck.
In reply, Australia chased down the target with more than three overs to spare with Connolly remaining unbeaten on a 53-ball 61 (5×4, 1×6).
India now trail the series 0-2, giving Australia an unassailable lead going into the final ODI in Sydney on Saturday.
(With agency inputs)
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