IND vs AUS: 5 Players who are responsible for India's crushing defeat in Adelaide, all of them underperformed

Their failure got exposed when no Indian batter was able to go past the 50 run mark. Another weakness which got exposed following the loss in Adelaide was of the team's over-reliance on ace-bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Keeping all of these aspects in mind, let's take a look at 5 players who are responsible for the Rohit Sharma-led team's crushing defeat in Adelaide.

1. Rohit Sharma

It's no secret that Indian skipper Rohit Sharma does have a tendency of not performing well with the bat on Australian soil. He missed the opening fixture of the series due to the birth of his second child.

He did make his return to the team in the 2nd test but his return didn't make any kind of a difference. Keeping in mind the performance of KL Rahul as the opener in the 1st test, Sharma decided to demote himself at the number six position so that the former LSG skipper can continue opening the inning.

However, this experiment proved to be a complete failure as the Indian skipper managed to score just 3 and 6 runs in both the innings of the Adelaide Test-Match. This performance didn't help Indian at all and the Men in Blue fell to an embarrassing defeat versus the Aussies. It's worth noting that Rohit has an average of less than 28 in Australia with the bat.

2. Virat Kohli

Eite Indian Batter and the Legendary Virat Kohli loves scoring runs versus Australia especially in their home conditions. As soon as he brought up yet another hundred in the 2nd inning of the Perth Test-Match, fans expected him to perform well with the bat once again in Adelaide.

However, much to the dismay of the Indian fans, Kohli managed to score jus 18 runs across both the innings of the 2nd Test. This performance of the 36-year-old angered a lot of fans as everyone had really high expectations from the former Indian skipper due to his 2,000 plus run record in the history of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and Kohli's failure with the bat resulted in the Men in Blue suffering a middle-order collapse.

3.Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill, famously known by the name of 'Prince of Indian Cricket' didn't take part in the Perth Test-Match due to a thumb-injury. But, as soon as he recovered from that injury, he was drafted back into the Playing XI immediately.

He showed signs of being in a good Nick with the bat, scoring a half-century in the practice-match versus the Prime Minister's XI of Australia.

But, when it came to performing well in the Adelaide Test-Match, Gill's bat didn't do anything. The 25-year-old got off to really good starts in both of the innings in the 2nd Test, scoring 31 and 28 runs respectively.

However, his failure to understand the pace and bounce of the surface and his inability of converting of good starts into big scores created problems for the Men in Blue and this proved to be a big reason behind their crushing defeat in Perth.

4. Harshit Rana

Right arm seamer Harshit Rana made his International debut for the Indian Cricket Team in the currently ongoing 2024 Border Gavaskar Trophy series versus Australia. While he had an impressive debut in Perth, dismissing four batters across both the innings, he completely underperformed and failed in playing the role of the third pacer in the Adelaide Test-Match.

During the Kangaroos' 1st inning, Rana was the only Indian bowler to go wicketless. He was also guilty of the Men in Blue's defeat in Adelaide as he gave away runs at a high economy rate of 5.40, which is really not acceptable in Modern day Cricket.

He has to play the supporting role to perfection in the remaining matches of the series if he wants to keep his place in the Playing XI.

5. Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravi Ashwin is undoubtedly one of the best Indian spinner and the one of the best bowler in International Cricket. But, when a certain player is in good form, how costly it proves to drop him from the Starting XI, the Indian management must have understood it very well.

Washington has been in good form since the series versus New Zealand, where he dismissed 16 batters and scored 89 runs with the bat. In the Perth Test-Match, the 25-year-old scored 33 runs with the bat across two innings and dismissed two batters with his economical off spin bowling.

In the place of Sundar, Ashwin who replaced him for the Adelaide Test-Match, wasn't effective with both bat and ball, managing to amas just 29 runs with the bat and picking up just a single-wicket in both innings. This ineffectiveness of Ashwin proved to be very costly for the Rohit Sharma-led team and it won't be surprising to see Sundar come back in the playing 11 for the 3rd Test-Match.

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