'It's ruthlessness, not overconfidence' - Rohit disagrees with Shastri's assessment

Rohit Sharma doesn't agree with former coach Ravi Shastri's assessment that India were overconfident and complacent going into the third Test against Australia, and it led to their nine-wicket defeat.

"Honestly, when you win two games, if the people outside are feeling that we are overconfident, it's absolutely rubbish, because you want to do your best in all four games," Rohit said on the eve of the final Test in Ahmedabad. "You don't want to stop by winning just two games, it is as simple as that.

"Obviously, all these guys, when they talk about being overconfident and all that, especially the guys who are not part of the dressing room, they don't know what kind of talk happens in the dressing room. Ruthless is the word that comes to my mind, and it comes to every cricketer's mind, being ruthless. Not to give any inch to the opposition when they are playing, especially when they're touring abroad, and that is exactly what we have also experienced when we have toured outside. The opposition will never let you come into the game, never let you come into the series. And that is the mindset we have as well.

"We want to do best in all the games. If it seems overconfident or anything like that to the outsiders, it doesn't really matter to us, because Ravi himself has been in this dressing room, and he knows what sort of mindset we have when we play. It's about being ruthless, not being overconfident."

Batting first after winning the toss in Indore, India lost seven wickets in the first session and were all out for a mere 109 as Matthew Kuhnemann picked up 5 for 16. They fared only slightly better in the second innings, posting 163 and setting a target of 76, which Australia chased down easily.

"This is what a little complacency, a little bit of overconfidence can do when you take things for granted, you drop guard and this game will bring you down," Shastri had said on air. "I think it was a combination of all these things when you actually cast your mind back to the first innings, see some of the shots played, see some of the overeagerness to try to dominate in these conditions. You reflect back, take a step back or two to analyse."

The result gave Australia a shot at squaring the series after having fallen 2-0 behind following losses in Nagpur and Delhi. In terms of the bigger picture, Australia's Indore win sealed their spot in the final of the World Test Championship. For India to do the same, they need to win in Ahmedabad. Anything less than a win and they will have to rely on New Zealand not losing to Sri Lanka 2-0.