India captain Rohit Sharma labelled Ravi Shastri's recent criticism as "absolute rubbish", insisting his team's ruthlessness should not be mistaken for overconfidence.
Former India head coach Shastri felt India played with "complacency and overconfidence" when they lost by nine wickets to Australia in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Having won the first two matches in convincing fashion, the setback means hosts and defending champions India now lead the 2023 series 2-1 with the fourth and final Test starting on Thursday in Ahmedabad.
Rohit said: "When you win two games, if the people outside are feeling that we are overconfident, it's absolute rubbish because you want to do your best in all four games.
"You don't want to stop by winning just two games, it is as simple as that.
"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.
"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."
India opened the batting in the third Test, but lost seven wickets in the first session and were all out for a mere 109 runs as they failed to repeat the form that won them the past three Border-Gavaskar trophies.
Shastri then said on commentary: "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.
"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."
The victory confirmed Australia’s spot in the final of the World Test Championship and for India to do the same, they must win in Ahmedabad.
With full focus on the final Test match, Rohit believes Shastri's comments will not affect the squad and says India will continue to play with the same mindset.
"We want to do our best in all the games," said Sharma, who scored just 12 in each innings of the third Test defeat.
"If it seems overconfident or anything like that to the outsiders, it doesn't really matter to us.
"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."
Ireland shock Pakistan in T20I opener
Ireland shocked Pakistan with a five-wicket victory in the first T20I at Clontarf, with Andrew Balbirnie starring for the hosts.
Balbirnie plundered 77 from 55 balls, including 10 fours and two sixes, and his partnership of 76 with Harry Tector (36) edged Ireland closer to victory.
Curtis Campher (15*) and Gareth Delany (10*) saw them over the line to secure the win with one ball to spare.
Despite an early setback, Pakistan started strong, with Babar Azam hitting 57 and Saim Ayub adding 45.
However, Craig Young’s strong performance saw him take 2-27 as Ireland took control to limit the visitors in the later stages as Azam Khan and Shadab Khan both walked without getting any runs.
The sides will meet again at the Dublin venue on Sunday and Tuesday.
Data Debrief:
Ireland achieved their target of 183 against Pakistan successfully today, making it their highest run chase against a full-member side in men's T20Is.
Ireland's first win against Pakistan came at the 2007 World Cup and 17 years later they secured a first victory over them in T20 cricket.
IPL: Titans broke records to move off the foot of the table
Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill wrote their names into the history books as the Gujarat Titans earned a 35-run victory over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League on Friday to move eighth.
The pair contributed to a sensational 210 runs between them for the opening wicket – the joint-highest opening stand in IPL history – as the Titans set CSK a daunting target of 232.
Gill was the first to reach his century in the 17th over, plundering 104 off 55 balls, but Sudharsan followed shortly after, hitting 103 off 51 before Tushar Deshpande got both out within the next five balls.
The Titans only added a further 41 runs to finish with 231-3 but stifled CSK when they stepped up to bat.
The Super Kings were 10 for three down inside the first two overs before Daryl Mitchell (63) and Moeen Ali (56) got them into their stride.
Mohit Sharma ensured the Titans ended strongly, finishing with figures of 3-31 to limit CSK to 196-8, leaving them with a tough task to reach the play-offs as they remain in fourth.
Data Debrief: GT history makers
Sudharsan, whose knock included five fours and seven maximums, and Gill, who helped himself to nine fours and six maximums, both scored their first centuries in the IPL this season.
Along the way, Gill and Sudharsan pushed the IPL century count past 100.
IPL: Kohli shines as RCB maintain winning run against Kings
Virat Kohli's superb knock of 92 helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a fourth straight win in the Indian Premier League on Thursday as they kept their playoff hopes alive with a 60-run triumph over Punjab Kings.
Kohli smashed seven fours and six sixes in his 47 balls faced as the Challengers set the Kings a daunting target of 241, with Rajat Patidar also bringing up his half-century and Cameron Green (46 off 27) falling just short of doing so.
The Kings pulled off the biggest run chase in IPL history less than two weeks ago, but their hopes of another comeback were dealt a huge blow when Faf du Plessis took a wonderful over-the-shoulder catch to send Jonny Bairstow packing with Punjab at 71-1.
Kohli's contribution wasn't only limited to the bat, as he produced a stunning run out of Shashank Singh, haring onto the scene to send wickets flying with an underarm throw as Shashank failed to make it back by mere inches.
It was then up to Mohammed Siraj to polish off the Punjab tail, finishing with figures of 3-43 as the Kings fell to back-to-back defeats, keeping them ninth in the standings.
Data Debrief: Kohli leads the way
Having previously claimed the honour in 2016, Kohli leads the way in the race for the 2024 Orange Cap, another impressive innings taking him to 634 runs for the campaign.
Averaging 70.44 with a strike rate of 153.51, Kohli put further distance between himself and Chennai Super Kings' Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose 541 runs put him second in the standings.
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