India vs Australia: Rohit Sharma praises Mitchell Marsh, 'he is one of top power hitters'

India captain Rohit Sharma praised Australia's Mitchell Marsh, saying he is one of the top power hitters at present.

Marsh remained unbeaten on 66 off 36 balls as Australia thrashed India by 10 wickets in the second One-Day International (ODI). Australia's fast bowler Mitchell Starc earned the Player of the Match for his spell of 5 for 53 in eight overs. He removed India's top-order batters Shubman Gill, Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav, and KL Rahul, before dismissing tail-ender Mohammed Siraj.

Speaking in the post-match presentation, Rohit criticised his batsmen, saying India did not have enough runs on the board as the Vishakapatnam track was not a "117 wicket."

"If you lose a game, it is just disappointing, We didn't apply ourselves with the bat. Didn't put enough runs on the board. It wasn't a 117 wicket. Kept losing wickets and that didn't allow us to get the runs we wanted. Once we lost Shubman in the first over, myself and Virat got 30-35 runs quickly. But then I lost my wicket and we lost we lost a couple of wickets back to back.

"That put us on the back foot. It's always tough to come back from that situation. Today wasn't the day for us. Starc is a quality bowler. He has been doing it for Australia with the new ball. He kept bowling to his strength. Swung the new ball and took the odd ball away. Kept the batters guessing. Marsh has to be one of the top players going around when it comes to power hitting. He backs himself to do that every now and then. Definitely in top 3 and 4 when it comes to power hitting," added Rohit.

Steve Smith praises Mitchell Starc

While India were bowled out for 117 in 26 overs, Australia chased it down in 11 overs. In regards to the same, Australia captain Steve Smith heaped praise on Starc, saying you don't see just 37 overs in an ODI that often.

"It was a quick one. Only 37 overs you don't see that too often. Starc, with the new ball, put them under pressure. It was a nice start to the day. I didn't know how the wicket was going to play. There was no real total in mind. It was about going out there and executing our skills and hopefully putting Indians under pressure, fortunately we were able to do that. It was one of those days and we were on the right side of it. Just that kind of a day when the nicks went to hand," added Smith.

Smith also credited the way Marsh and Travis Head batted as the two led Australia's chase with ease.

"The way Head and Marsh played at the start, they just kept going and we were able to bounce back after the last game. Don't know about the catch of the century. Nice that I held on today. Fortunate I was able to hang on to it. It was a big wicket, Hardik is an unbelievable player," added Smith.

The three-match ODI series is now drawn at 1-1, with the series decider third game on Wednesday (March 22) in Chennai.