India vs Australia: Rohit Sharma slams Ravi Shastri's 'overconfidence' remarks, calls him an 'outsider'

India captain Rohit Sharma slammed former head coach Ravi Shastri for saying the Indian team lost the third Test against Australia due to "overconfidence".

Shastri, who was India's coach for six years from 2014, experienced first time of how it feels on being on the other side of the dressing room as Rohit called him an "outsider".

"This is what a little complacency, a little bit of overconfidence can do where you take things for granted, you drop guard and this game will bring you down," Shastri said on air while doing commentary for Star Sports after Australia thrashed India by nine wickets on a rank turner.

Rohit, who replaced Virat Kohli as India's captain in the end of 2021, has been calm, composed and maintained a decorum over the last months, but that changed when he was asked about Shastri's assessment on India's defeat in the Indore Test. Rohit's comments came on Wednesday ahead of the final game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Ahmedabad, Rohit

"Honestly, when you win two games and people on the outside feel that we are overconfident, it's absolutely rubbish because you want to do your best in all four games.

"You don't want to stop by winning two games. It is as simple as that. Obviously, all these guys, when they talk about being overconfident and all and especially when they are not part of the dressing room, they don't know what sort of talk happens in the dressing room," added Rohit in the pre-match conference.

Rohit said all that for someone who until recently was Team India's strategy maker and its biggest cheerleader. One of the reasons behind Rohit's anger could be the fact that Shastri chose to make those remarks despite knowing how the system works and could have been a bit more empathetic in his choice of words.

"We want to do best in all games and if it seems overconfident, or anything like that for outsiders, it doesn't really matter to us. Because Ravi has been himself in this dressing room and he knows what sort of mindset we have when we play," the Indian skipper added further.

If it was a display of misplaced confidence for many, for Rohit, India's performance was "ruthless."

"So yeah, it's about being ruthless and not being overconfident. Ruthless is the word that comes to every cricketer's mind, not to give an inch to the opposition when they are touring abroad. "We have also experienced that when we have toured outside, the opposition will never let you come into the game or series, and that is the mindset we have as well," said Rohit.

Indore Test: We'll find our own ways of scoring runs, says Rohit Sharma

Meanwhile, Rohit did not go into details about the pitch that would be on offer in Ahmedabad. He only said it was about finding ways to score runs regardless of how the surface behaves.

"It's important that any Test match you play, leave the conditions out of it. You have to score runs, find ways to score runs. That is the talk within the group. How challenging the pitches are, how much is it turning, how much is it seaming - we are trying to keep all of that away," said Rohit, who is the only player to score a century in the series.

"Conditions are there for us to play, and you got to find a way to score runs on whatever pitches you play on. That is the talk. We are trying to figure out more and more methods of coming out top when the pitches are challenging. Every individual is different. So, they will find their own way of scoring runs.

"All these guys have played a lot of cricket. So, you cannot change a lot in a span of three weeks. You need to change your mindset, you need to adapt to the conditions as quickly as possible. More than the skills, it is mentally how you prepare yourself, and how you want to tackle the opposition bowlers. So, it's more mental than the skills," the Indian skipper explained.

Rohit also heaped praise on Australia's newcomers Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann, who made their debuts in the series.

"Both have looked good. Murphy - in the first game got seven wickets. Kuhnemann got a fifer in the last Test. So, they have the potential to exploit these conditions. When you have an attacking spinner in Nathan Lyon, you need someone from the other end to compliment them as well. These guys have shown that they can handle the pressure.

"Having come out of two losses, it's not easy to come out and get the job done. Both spinners have shown that they have the temperament to handle the pressure. When the pitches are that helpful for the spinners your team is expecting a lot out of you. Every ball you bowl, you are desperate to take a wicket.

"But I thought they were calm, both of them. Pitch it in the right area and make the batter guess and make a mistake. They really have shown they have the potential to play at the highest level. For us, it is about understanding what they have done in the last two games, how we come out on top," said Rohit.