Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma© AFP
Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma joined an embarrassing list as his side slumped to a 10-wicket defeat to Australia in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide on Sunday. The visitors were completely outplayed as the match lasted just seven sessions and it was Rohit's fourth consecutive Test defeat as captain. As a result, he equaled the undesirable feat achieved by MS Dhoni, Datta Gaekwad and Kapil Dev in the past. During his stint as captain, Sachin Tendulkar lost five Test matches on the trot, while legendary cricketer MAK Pataudi tops the list with six defeats as captain in Test cricket.
Skippers of Indian cricket teams who have lost four or more Test matches in a row
6 MAK Pataudi (1967-68)
5 Sachin Tendulkar (1999-00)
4 Datta Gaekwad (1959)
4 MS Dhoni (2011)
4 MS Dhoni (2014)
4 Virat Kohli (2020-21)
4 Rohit Sharma (2024)*
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's endless technical problems with both pace and spin have raised alarm bells as Indian batters capitulated twice in just 81 overs and lost the 'pink ball' Test against Australia by a wide 10-wicket margin in the third. day.
Australia maintained their impeccable record in day/night Tests to level the five-match series at 1-1, bouncing back in style after their debacle in Perth.
It was the shortest Test ever between India and Australia in terms of balls bowled. Only 1031 balls were bowled out of a total of 2700 legal deliveries.
The day started at 128 for 5 and Nitish Kumar Reddy's (42) cavalier approach avoided a second successive defeat in the innings under lights in Adelaide as India were bowled out for 175.
Australia only needed to score 19 runs and completed the formalities in just 3.2 overs.
India's second innings lasted just 36.5 overs, with skipper Pat Cummins using the short ball effectively to claim 5 for 57. Scott Boland (3/51) did early damage, while Mitchell Starc (2/60) chipped in with crucial wickets.
Such was the dominance of the three leading Australian quicks that Cummins did not even need Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Lyon to roll their arms in the second innings.
In fact, the specialist spinner and all-rounder only bowled five overs in the entire game.
After an easy 295-run win in Perth, the Indian batting unit won't be too amused to hear that they survived a total of 81 overs in both innings, which isn't even a full day of Test match batting.
(With PTI inputs)
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