Rohit could only make nine runs in two innings as a number six batter in India\u2019s ten-wicket defeat to Australia at the Adelaide Oval, as the hosts\u2019 squared the five-match series 1-1. Those two scores meant Rohit is now averaging just 11.83 in his last six Tests.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"That\u2019s where he\u2019s been at his best over the last eight or nine years. It\u2019s not that he\u2019s going to set the world on fire \u2013 he could \u2013 but that\u2019s the place that\u2019s best for him. To lead from the front. If he has to do damage, if he has to throw the first punch, that\u2019s the best place from where he can do it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"And it is important that India get their judgement right here, because 1-1 in the series, this is the moving Test match. I feel whichever team wins this Test match will win the series. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind. So it is very, very important that India get the balance right, because Australia have got the confidence back,\" Shastri was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Shastri, who coached India to successive 2-1 Test series victories in Australia in 2018\/19 and 2020\/21, recalled about how Shubman Gill advised Rishabh Pant, who remained 89 not out, in scripting a memorable chase of 328 at the Gabba, to seal an unforgettable series win.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I\u2019ll never forget it. Last session, 140 runs to get. We had two different change rooms because of Covid. I went down from the coaches\u2019 room to have a chat with either Rishabh or (Cheteshwar) Pujara. When I was about to reach the toilet, I heard a conversation between Gill and Pant.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Seventy-one overs bowled; Gill had got out for 91, and they were the two youngest players in the side, 21 and 22. \u2018Nine overs left, they need the new ball, they\u2019ll bring (Marnus) Labuschagne on with his leg spin, you\u2019ve got to score 45-50 runs there\u2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"They are planning how they can reach closer to the end score, and no way was I going to stop them; I don\u2019t want to change that mindset. So I just walked past and said \u2018do what you have to do\u2019. In the end, we chased down nearly 150 in that last session,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Shastri also stated that the Indian team\u2019s unity during the 2020\/21 series, despite strict Covid-19 measures, was critical to their epic victory, especially after being 36 all out in the series opener in Adelaide.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Being locked up and then having to give their best in the middle, and in a country like India where there\u2019s 1.4 billion people, there\u2019s no sympathy. \u2018To hell with Covid, what\u2019s Covid, jolly well win the Test match.' That\u2019s all they want. So there\u2019s no hiding in our part of the world.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"In Covid, the first Test match you start with five bowlers and the same five bowlers don\u2019t play the last Test. That says it all, it\u2019s like Australia playing without these five bowlers in the last Test of the series; it\u2019s a different ball game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Being locked up and then having to give their best in the middle, and in a country like India where there\u2019s 1.4 billion people, there\u2019s no sympathy. \u2018To hell with Covid, what\u2019s Covid, jolly well win the Test match.' That\u2019s all they want. So there\u2019s no hiding in our part of the world.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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