Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has been under immense criticism following India's 10-wicket defeat against Australia in the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The five-match series is levelled 1-1 after India's approach in the second Test failed to yield any positive result. Now, ahead of the third Test, former Australian cricketer Simon Katich has said that Indian skipper Rohit Sharma didn't manage to use his bowlers tactically in the second Test, while Jasprit Bumrah, who was the stand-in skipper in the first Test, did it brilliantly. Under Bumrah's leadership, India had clinched a 295-run win in the first Test.
"When you compare the two results, obviously, in Perth, Rohit Sharma missed out. And I thought Bumrah's captaincy, and particularly, the use of his bowlers in the length that they bowled, was far superior to what we saw in Adelaide. In Perth late on Day 1 when Australia were 7/67, India attacked the stumps and bowled much fuller and straighter lengths," Katich said during an interaction with 'Around the Wicket' podcast.
Katich further asserted that Rohit Sharma needs to be proactive in his captaincy.
"Whereas, when you look at the pitch map for Adelaide, on the night of Day 1, they were a lot shorter and wider, and around the 7-8 meter mark. So they missed a trick. Rohit Sharma was at first slip; he saw it all unfold. He needs to be a bit more proactive with his quicks when that's happening. Because Australia got out of jail in that session only being one down and as a result, went on to win the Test," he said.