Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Deep Dasgupta has called out India’s flat body language in the third Border-Gavaskar Test against Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane. Dasgupta noted that India looked flat on the third day of the third Test when Australia resumed the day’s play at 405-7.

The home team added 40 runs on the third day’s morning for the last three wickets as Alex Carey also completed his fifty. The hosts posted a par score of 445 runs on the board after Travis Head and Steve Smith scored fine centuries on the second day’s play.

While Head scored 152 runs off just 160 balls, Smith scored a majestic knock of 101 runs to get back into form.

“Let’s jog your mind to the first half an hour of the day. How falt were India on the field. I was a bit concerned back then and now it is kind of manifesting itself now. That attitude and that mindset has seeped into India’s batting innings. It’s not an individual one but a team sport. It seems like everyone is on their own right now,” Dasgupta said on air for Star Sports.

On the other hand, India’s top order once again could not provide a good start as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill were dismissed cheaply. Dasgupta feels it is unfair to expect the likes of Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Rohit Sharma to play well with the new ball in the first 10 overs in almost every innings.

“At times, I also feel bad for the middle-order batters. Whether it is Virat, Rishabh Pant or Rohit Sharma. You can’t ask them to come and bat in that first 10 overs almost every innings in these testing conditions. There’s a reason why they’re middle-order batters. There are openers, there is a top 3. Their job in these conditions is to control your natural instincts. You will get chances to play those shots,” Dasgupta added

On the other hand, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, and Marnus Labuschagne have given the first hour of play to the bowlers and thus Travis Head has dominated with the old ball.

At stumps on day three, India were struggling at 51-4, still trailing by 394 runs.