Last Updated:January 01, 2025, 21:29 IST

Former India coach Ravi Shastri Shastri refrained from naming specific players but acknowledged that dismissals of ‘two senior players and a youngster’ at the MCG would face intense scrutiny.

The 184-run defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground has hit India hard in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They are trailing 1-2 in the five-match series, doubts loom over their WTC final qualification, and now the reports of unrest in the Indian dressing room have created a massive uproar. With one more Test to go, in Sydney, India still have a chance to win and draw the series 2-2 and retain the trophy.

Meanwhile, former India head coach Ravi Shastri has made an honest analysis of India’s defeat in the Boxing Day Test. In his column for The Daily Telegraph, Shastri wrote that ‘poor shot selection on either side of the middle session’ on the final day cost the visitors the Test match.

Shastri refrained from naming specific players but acknowledged that dismissals involving ‘two senior players and a youngster’ would face intense scrutiny.

“It was amazing to see the Indian crowds having travelled from all parts of the globe to come experience Test cricket at its best at the ‘G’,” Shastri wrote.

“Unfortunately for them, some poor shot selection on either side of the middle session on the final day cost India the game. And probably has ensured that India may have lost their grip on the Border Gavaskar Trophy with one Test to go,” he added.

“There will be a few other second-innings dismissals that will be scrutinised in India as well, involving two senior players and a youngster. Three very loose shots,” Shastri noted.

He also highlighted the contrast in leadership performances by Rohit and his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins, who was adjudged player of the match.

“It doesn’t help when one of them, involved the captain, is struggling. Also doesn’t help when Cummins raises his game to a scale of 8 or 9 when up against his counterpart, who is at the opposite end of the scale,” Shastri added.

(With PTI Inputs)