'Mentally disturbing': Rohit Sharma on his flop show as skipper, batter after 184-run defeat against Australia at MCG

Rohit Sharma's team crumbled in the final session of Day 5, raising concerns about their batting performance and leadership.

The Indian batting lineup faltered significantly, except for Yashasvi Jaiswal, who stood out with a resilient 84 in the second innings.

Senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul struggled, failing to reach double-digit scores.

Rohit himself managed only 12 runs across both innings in the Boxing Day Test, adding to his ongoing struggles in red-ball cricket this year.

Rohit's form has been a growing concern, as he has scored just 31 runs in seven innings during this series and only one half-century in his last 15 Test innings, and under his captaincy, India has failed to secure a win in their last six Tests.

Fans began questioning his leadership after India won the series opener in Perth under Jasprit Bumrah's captaincy, and the latest defeat in Melbourne has only intensified the scrutiny ahead of the Sydney Test.

Addressing questions about his form and leadership during the post-match press conference, Rohit expressed his frustration.

"I stand where I am standing today - Few results didn't go our way as a captain and batter it is disappointing," Rohit said. "Mentally it's disturbing but as of now that is where it is, there are things we as a team and I need to look at."

In the post-match presentation, the Indian captain reflected on the team's performance, expressing disappointment but emphasising their intent to fight throughout the game.

Rohit Sharma acknowledged that while the team entered the match aiming for victory, they failed to seize critical moments.

"It is pretty disappointing. It's not that we went in with the intent of giving up the fight. We wanted to fight till the end, and unfortunately, we couldn't do it. It'll be tough to assess just the last two sessions. If you look at the overall Test match, we had our chances, but we didn't take them. We had Australia 90 for 6," Rohit said.

Rohit also highlighted Australia’s resilience, particularly their last-wicket partnership, which he felt turned the tide of the game.

"We know things can get tough, but we want to play tough cricket from hard situations. I don't want to look at one situation. We were not good enough. I went back to my room and thought about what else we could have done as a team, but we threw everything we had, but they fought hard, especially that last-wicket partnership, which probably cost us the game there," he added.

The skipper admitted the Indian batting lineup failed to establish a solid foundation to chase the target, crediting the Australian bowlers for their precise execution.

However, he praised Nitish Kumar Reddy for his outstanding performance, which stood out as a positive from the match.

"We knew 340 wasn't going to be easy. We tried to set a platform and keep wickets in hand for the last two sessions, but they bowled perfectly as well. We wanted to go for the target, but we didn't set the platform from our side. There are ways to win games and we fell short in finding ways to win games," Rohit said.

Commenting on Nitish Kumar Reddy's ton in the first innings, he said, "He [Reddy] is coming here for the first time, these conditions can get really tough, but he showed great character, solid technique as well. He's got everything to be successful at this level, I hope he goes from strength to strength, and he's got all the backing from the team as well."

This heavy defeat dealt a significant blow to India’s hopes of reaching the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final.

With a 1-2 deficit in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and just one Test remaining, India’s points percentage in the WTC standings dropped to 52.78 percent.

Meanwhile, Australia strengthened their position in second place with a points percentage of 60.71, while South Africa became the first team to qualify for the WTC final on December 29 after defeating Pakistan by two wickets in Centurion.