'The bowlers were quite not there' - Rohit Sharma expresses disappointment after defeat against Australia

Despite scoring a massive 208 runs in the first T20I against Australia at the PCA Stadium in Mohali, India lost, and captain Rohit Sharma was blunt in his response when questioned about the result. Rohit firmly blamed India's awful bowling performance during the game and felt the bowlers failed to do their bit. 

Veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar let up 52 runs in four overs while Harshal Patel, who returned after a prolonged injury break, was smashed for 49 runs during his spell of four overs. Yuzvendra Chahal, the leg spinner, conceded 42 runs in 3.2 overs, and despite a remarkable spell of 3/17 from allrounder Axar Patel, the Australians eventually defeated India convincingly.

"I don't think we bowled well. 200 is a good score to defend, and we didn't take our chances in the field. It was a great effort from our batters, but the bowlers were quite not there. There are things we need to look at," Rohit Sharma said at the presentation ceremony.

We took wickets to an extent, but Australia played really well: Sharma

The pitch at Mohali supported the batters, looking at how KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya succeeded in scoring their respective half-centuries. While India had a very strong bowling lineup, they were unable to tackle the Australian top-order batters, especially Cameron Green who kept piling up runs.  Also, a couple of dropped catches added to India’s misery during the game.

"We know this is a high-scoring ground. You can't relax even if you get 200. We took wickets to an extent, but they played really well. They played some extraordinary shots. If I was in that changing room, I would expect to chase that total. You can back yourself to get 60 runs in the final 4 overs. We were not able to take their wicket," he added.

This defeat resembles India's two defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup's Super 4 earlier this month. Even though India didn't surpass 200 runs in those encounters, they still managed to put up a respectable total, and it was the pacers' subpar death bowling that cost India those two games as well. Ahead of the next two games of the ongoing series, India's bowling attack will be the center of attention.