Performance of batters is cause for concern ahead of Australia series: Rohit

Mumbai, Nov 3 (IANS) The disappointing performance by the Indian batters in the 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand is a cause for concern for the Indian team, said captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday. However, he said India will have to regroup from that at the earliest as they have a good opportunity to "do something really, really special in Australia".

India are scheduled to visit Australia for a five-match Test series which became very crucial after the team slipped down the World Test Championship standings. India have won the last two editions of the Border Gavaskar Trophy and are hoping for a hat-trick of series wins.

But the batting unit's abject surrender against New Zealand and especially the failure to score of the team's two senior-most players -- Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli --has left people doubting India's chances against India Down Under.

"Obviously it's a cause for concern without a doubt. If you know the batters are not performing, that is a cause for concern. But what's done is done.

"Now I think, as a player, as a captain, as the team, we all have to look forward and see how we can correct what we didn't manage to achieve here," said Rohit Sharma in the post-match press conference after India's 0-3 whitewash by New Zealand on Sunday.

"There's a good opportunity for us to go and do something really, really special in Australia. So we'll focus on that. We'll try and see what needs to be done there. Like I said just now, most guys have been there and few haven't been there.

"So it'll be a good challenge for guys who have been there also and the guys who are travelling for the first time to Australia. So yes, without a doubt we know, we do understand the importance of the series but just right now it's just trying to understand what we didn't do right," he added.

He said they will have to address the mistakes they made in the New Zealand series.

"We made a lot of mistakes (in the NZ series), so I think those mistakes need to Be addressed and something that we will talk about. And then moving forward when you land in Australia, I think it's important to just focus on that particular series, the first test match. You know, it's a five-Test match series. So it's important to break down those test matches, focus on one Test and then just take it from there," said the India captain.

Asserting that the coaching staff has been very good with them, encouraging, and understanding despite the results not going in the team's favour recently, Rohit said it was the responsibility of the players to make their job and life easier.

"It's the players' responsibility to make their job or make their life easier because it's never easy for anyone to come in and start doing what they are doing because there are a lot of different individuals here and they operate slightly differently. So the players need to make sure that the thought process of the coaching staff aligns with those thought processes and take it forward. Like I said, it's been only four or five months now. Too early to judge anything, but so far they've been really, really good with the players," said the 37-year-old from Mumbai.

He said getting the Indian squad with some young players in it ready for the upcoming Australia tour is going to be challenging.

"That's going to be very, very challenging. You know, we do talk a lot about the game and all of that, but again sitting with every individual and telling them what needs to be done or how you need to get your mindset right is something that is going to be challenging for us because they come up with a certain mindset, certain thinking about their own game, and it has given them success in the past.

"We all understand that Australia is going to be a different ballgame. But for all the young players who haven't been there before, for us, it will be important to create that environment where they feel comfortable and don't get intimidated by where you're playing and who you're playing against.

He said they are not going to a "classroom setup" and stress too much on what each individual has to do.

"But, as a group the last two times we've been there, we won the series, so we can take a lot of confidence from that and then keep moving ahead with that. Because we don't want to create a classroom where we make everyone sit and talk to them about what needs to be done. They all understand, and they all are quite smart about their plans. So I expect them to, you know, come really, really good in Australia as well," said Rohit.

About the possibility of India not having a practice game ahead of the Perth Test, Rohit said the match simulation they are going to have India A would be a better option.

"Rather than practice match, we have planned a match simulation kind of a thing with India A. I think sometimes when you play that practice match, we're travelling with a squad of 19 players and it's a three-day game that we are allotted and I don't know how much workload can we get done in those three days in terms of getting everyone prepared.

"So I mean, we as management as well, we feel that rather than having that practice game (with India A), the match simulation where the batters can spend more time in the middle and the bowlers as well can bowl a lot of balls, So that is something that we as a team feel more comfortable doing rather than playing a practice game because game time is not a problem. All of us have been playing a lot of cricket, so it's just about spending time in the middle," said Rohit Sharma.

--IANS

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