BRISBANE: India captain Rohit Sharma said Wednesday his team’s gritty fightback against Australia with both bat and ball would not hold any significance for the Boxing Day Test.
Despite being behind for much of the rain-affected third Test, India showed great determination to avoid the follow-on and then take seven quick wickets in Australia’s second innings.
The match ended in a draw and the two sides now head to the Melbourne Cricket Ground with the five-match series locked at 1-1 with two Tests remaining.
Rohit was dismissive when asked whether the fightbacks gave his side a psychological boost.
“I don’t believe in all of that,” he said.
“You’re starting fresh every Test match you play and you have to start really, really well from ball one.
“All those things that have happened in the past, are in the past.
“You can take certain things out of it but it doesn’t give you that kind of advantage where you can win the game.
“When we reach Melbourne, we’ll figure out what we need to do as a team and choose the best possible playing 11 for us.”
Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon questioned why India had celebrated when 10th wicket pair Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep avoided the follow-on.
He said in a television interview that it showed India were mentally scarred by the Australia pace attack, but Rohit laughed off Lyon’s comments as “mind games”.
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“I’ve been here enough to understand what are mind games and what are chit-chatters,” he said.
“From our point of view, we were behind the game (and needed) to get to that follow-on.
“Australia were ahead in the game but they didn’t manage to get the result.
“For us to celebrate that, there’s no harm in that.”
The India captain, who missed the first Test in Perth because of the birth of his second child, has been struggling for runs in 2024 and has faced questions about his form.
He scored just 10 in the first innings in Brisbane after failing twice the second Test in Adelaide.
“I’m feeling good about myself to be honest,” Rohit insisted. “Runs are obviously not showing that, but inside it’s a different feeling.”
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