"He's not that good of a bowler" - Rohit Sharma's stunning revelation as he recalls frustration from BGT 2023 during book launch

Team India ODI skipper Rohit Sharma made a stunning revelation about getting miffed at veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara and all-rounder Axar Patel playing Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon too cautiously in the Indore Test in 2023. Team India won the opening two Tests of the home Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

However, they struggled in the third Test at Indore despite winning a valuable toss and batting first. India were shot out for a paltry 109 in the first innings, while Australia took an 88-run lead by scoring 197 in their first essay.

The second innings followed a similar script, with the Indian batters clueless against the Australian spinners. Pujara was the lone ranger from the top order with a defiant half-century.

He joined hands with Axar, with India staring down the barrel at 140/7 in their second innings. The duo added only five runs off their first 35 deliveries, prompting an agitated Rohit to send a message to the batters to show more aggression against Lyon.

Pujara responded in style by smashing a maximum over deep midwicket off Lyon's next over.

Recalling the moment at Pujara's wife's book launch event, Rohit said (via Hindustan Times):

"We wanted to get Nathan Lyon off the track a little bit. We wanted to get some runs quickly. We probably were looking at declaring or something. We were like... ‘no, something needs to change now. Maybe, a message would do good’. The entire time, he was bowling with mid-on up. I was like, he's not that good of a bowler to keep mid-on up."

He continued:

"I know it was a challenge, the pitch was turning square but we needed to get runs quickly. So I had to send Ishan. It's one thing that we send messages. The most important thing is.. sometimes what batters do is whenever someone comes out with a message, we know exactly why he's there. So I would stop him there only!"

Unfortunately, Lyon dismissed Pujara an over later as India slumped to 155/8 in their second innings.

Team India suffered heavy defeat despite Rohit Sharma's message

Despite skipper Rohit Sharma's message, the Indian innings unraveled soon after Pujara's dismissal as they were bowled out for 163 in their second innings. It meant Australia's target was only 76, and they knocked it off in the 19th over with nine wickets remaining.

The win reduced India's series lead to 1-2, with the series finale to be played in Ahmedabad. However, a placid Ahmedabad wicket saw both teams score big in their first innings, leading to a dull stalemate.

The result was enough for India to seal a 2-1 series win and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.