"Started At The Top...": Ex-Australia Star Bluntly Blames Rohit Sharma For India's Struggles

Former Australian cricketer Simon Katich slammed Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for his poor captaincy on day two of the fourth Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), saying that India is being "bullied" by the Aussies. If the first day of the Test match saw Australia make 300-plus runs, the Indian bowlers still showed a fight by taking six wickets, with four of them coming in the last session. The day two first session was extremely poor for the Indian team as Steve Smith and skipper Pat Cummins were all over Indian bowlers, even Jasprit Bumrah, as they scored at a run rate above five. While Smith reached a brilliant 34th Test ton, a useful 49 from Cummins took Australia to 454/7 at the end of session one.

Speaking on SEN Cricket while commentating, Katich said, "India has been dismantled here and it's started at the top with Rohit. It's not been proactive captaincy at all. It has been reactive and they look like they are in disarray. Australia are bullying them."

Speaking about Smith, Katich said that he looked at his best and put on a "masterclass".

"Yeah, he certainly did. He looked brilliant on day one, 139 not out. It was a master class. It was back to his best. Treated the Indian bowlers with contempt and it was a phenomenal knock," he said.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Half-centuries from Konstas (60 in 65 balls, with six fours and two sixes), Usman Khawaja (57 in 121 balls, with six fours), Marnus Labuschagne (72 in 145 balls, with seven fours) and Steve Smith (68*) justified the decision with their fine knocks, pushing Australia to 311/6 at the day one end despite India taking some quick wickets.

On day two, Smith scored a century and had a 112-run stand with skipper Pat