Melbourne: Captain Rohit Sharma rued the missed opportunities after India endured a heavy 184-run defeat in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne against Australia on Monday.
Australia knocked India flat in all facets of the game, even though the game was defined by the finest of margins. After being knocked around the MCG in the first innings, India replied boldly in the second innings.
With a pace attack spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah, India had Australia on the ropes after reducing the hosts to 91/6. However, a couple of dropped catches and missed chances gave Australia a window of opportunity to make a strong comeback.
The hopes of restricting Australia on a 250-run lead slowly subdued, especially after Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland muscled away a tired Indian bowling unit on Day 4. The 61-run partnership rubbed salt in India's wounds as Australia set a 340-run target for India to chase down.
The target played on India's minds and nerves, especially after the top order misfired. The first session left its mark and eventually left India with a pretty "disappointing" result, allowing Australia to move to a 2-1 lead in the series.
"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 in the post-match presentation.
Despite India falling short when things mattered most, Rohit was aware that India wasn't good enough despite throwing everything that they had. For the Indian skipper, the partnership between Lyon and Boland cost the visitors the game.
"We know things can get tough, but we want to play tough cricket in 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. We threw everything we had, but they fought hard, especially that last-wicket partnership, which probably cost us the game there," Rohit said.
For Australia Steven Smith (140) fired a century for Australia and Marnus Labuschagne (70) rode on his luck in the second innings. On the other hand, India lacked moments of individual brilliance on certain occasions which played its part in India's downfall.
"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," he added.
India just have a couple of days to evaluate and regroup before being a part of the final chapter of the five-match series, beginning on Friday. (ANI)