IND vs AUS: ‘We Are Very Much Used to it Now,’ Says Rohit Sharma on Jasprit Bumrah’s Absence

India suffered a humiliating thrashing at the hands of Australia in the second ODI of the three-match series at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

Mitchell Starc’s devastating spell, as he picked up his ninth 5-wicket spell, and openers Mitchell Marsh (66 not out) and Travis Head’s (51 not out) smashing unbeaten 121-run opening partnership helped Australia thrash India by 10 wickets to level the series 1-1.

The Indian captain said that Burmah’s injury and his subsequent absence is something that the team is used to now.

“Bumrah has been absent for more than eight months now, the guys and the team are very much used to it. It is very hard to fill Bumrah’s shoes. We all know that, he is a quality bowler but now that is not been available for us. Let’s not just keep thinking about that,” Rohit said.

“We have to move ahead and guys have taken the responsibility pretty well (Mohammad ) Siraj, (Mohammed) Shami, Shardul (Thakur), we have got Umran and Jaydev (Unadkat) as well,” he added.

In fact, the right-arm pacer has been in and out of the Indian set-up and last played for India in September 2022, with his back injury troubling him over the past few years.

Rohit had earlier admitted at the post-match presentation that India’s batters never managed to apply themselves with the bat.

“It is disappointing. No doubt about that. We didn’t play to our potential. We didn’t apply ourselves with the bat. We always knew that was not enough runs. It was not a 117 pitch at all. By no means. We just didn’t apply ourselves.”

“(Starc) is a quality bowler. He’s been doing it for years for Australia with the new ball. He kept bowling to his strength and we kept falling to his strength. That’s something that we need to understand and play accordingly. All their bowlers bowled really well and put us under pressure,” said Rohit in the post-match presentation ceremony.