India vs Australia 2023

Former Australian star reveals big reason why India lost third Test against Australia

India had a great start to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 by winning by an innings and 132 runs in Nagpur and also in the second Test in Delhi, where they won by 6 wickets. In the third Test in Indore, they were handed a reality check as they succumbed to a nine-wicket hammering.

India’s top-order frailties were exposed as they failed to perform in three Tests in a row. Virat Kohli looked out of sorts and Rohit Sharma could not get a big score as he did in the first Test in Nagpur where he scored 122. Ian Chappell made a big comment on this and said that the biggest difference for India was the unavailability of Rishabh Pant.

Rishabh Pant would have provided a left-handed option and played differently against Australia

“One of the big differences is that there is no Rishabh Pant on this Indian side. They have started to see how important Rishabh Pant is to the Indian side,” Chappell said in an interaction with ESPNCricinfo. Pant has been the best batter for the Indian side in Test cricket. He has scored runs in England and Australia and made match-winning hundreds there.

Pant provides a left-handed option in the middle order for India and also if he was on the side would have attacked the spinners and played differently. The Indian batting line-up which is predominantly right-handed were not able to make big runs against the spin trio of Nathan Lyon, Matt Kuhemann and Todd Murphy.

Kohli has looked out of sorts against the spinners and has not been among the runs. He has not been able to find his form in Test cricket and has not been able to score big in the five innings so far. The former India captain has not been able to find his mojo in Tests. When India and Australia play in the fourth Test at Ahmedabad, Kohli will be hoping to score runs and get his lost form back. India lost the Test Championship final in 2021 to New Zealand.