I would like Rohit Sharma to come back to form as soon as possible: Cheteshwar Pujara

Veteran cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara reflected on India skipper Rohit Sharma's recent performances and said that he needs to come back to form as soon as possible, reported Star Sports. Team India conceded a disappointing 10-wicket defeat against Australia in the second Test match of the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Adelaide. With three matches remaining, the series has been tied 1-1.

Rohit Sharma displayed a poor performance in the recently concluded Adelaide Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He scored nine runs in the second Test match including two innings. Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, Pujara said that if Rohit Sharma fails to come back in form then it will affect his captaincy as well. The veteran cricketer added that Rohit should focus on getting his first 20 or 30 runs steadily.

"My thoughts on Rohit Sharma as a captain and as a player. First of all, I would like Rohit Sharma to come back to form as soon as possible. Because when he scores runs, it will affect his captaincy as well. When a captain is out of form, it affects his captaincy as well. So, I think when scores runs, it will affect his captaincy. Rohit Sharma is an experienced player. He knows how to score runs when batting. He is going through some bad form. But even there, a start is very important for him. He should focus on getting his first 20 or 30 runs steadily. After that, he can capitalize on the start and convert it into a big score. So, hopefully, when he comes in the first half or quarter of an hour, he should focus on getting a start," Pujara was quoted in a release from Star Sports as saying.

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Recapping the Adelaide Test, India won the toss and opted to bat first. However, they had to face the wrath of a moving, erratic pink ball and its mastermind, Mitchell Starc (6/48). Except for a 69-run stand for the second wicket between KL Rahul (37 in 64 balls with six fours) and Shubman Gill (31 in 51 balls, with five fours) and a fighting 42 in 54 balls (three fours and three sixes) from Nitish Kumar Reddy, there was not much highlights from India who were skittled out for 180 runs. Skipper Cummins and Scott Boland also took two wickets.

In the first innings, a 67-run partnership between Nathan McSweeney (39 in 109 balls, with six fours) and Marnus Labuschagne (64 in 126 balls, with nine fours) for second wicket set the platform for Travis Head to impose his domination over Indian bowlers yet again with a counter-attacking 140 in 141 balls, with 17 fours and four sixes, just when Aussies lost some regular wickets. His century took Australia to 337 runs and gave them a 157-run lead. Jasprit Bumrah (4/61) and Mohammed Siraj (4/98) were top bowlers for India. Ravichandran and Nitish got a wicket each.

In their second innings, India appeared even more toothless as the star-studded top-order and middle-order returned back to pavillion despite starts from Jaiswal (24 in 31 balls, with four boundaries), Gill (28 in 30 balls, with three fours) while KL Rahul (7) and Virat Kohli (11 in 21 balls with a four) failed to score well. India ended day two at 128/5.

On the third day, Pant also lost his wicket for 28 in 31 balls, with five fours. From there on, it was not looking back for the Aussies, who skittled out India for 175 runs in 36.5 overs. India led by just 18 runs, setting Aussies 19 runs to win. Skipper Cummins (5/67) took a majestic five-wicket haul, his eighth as a captain. Boland took 3/51 while Starc took 2/60. Set a target of 19 runs, Khawaja (10*) and McSweeney (9*) chased it down without breaking a sweat in 3.2 overs. (ANI)