Rohit Sharma was fuming at his opening partner Shubman Gill after a horrible mix-up in the first over of India’s chase resulted in the captain’s run-out in the first T20I against Afghanistan in Mohali. On his return to T20Is for the first time in 14 months, Rohit Sharma was out for 0 off 2 balls on Thursday, January 11.
| IND vs AFG, 1st T20I Scorecard |
The India captain played a dot ball in the first delivery of the Indian innings after opting to take the strike on a cold evening in Mohali. Fazalhaq Farooqi was trying to get some swing by bowling it full to the India captain. The left-arm pacer tried to keep the second delivery of his first over in a similar length, but Rohit quickly danced down the track and tried to hit one past the mid-off fielder.
However, captain Ibrahim Zadran put in a dive at mid-off and stopped the ball from going past the 30-yard circle. Rohit Sharma made a loud call and started running toward the non-striker’s end in a bid to pinch a quick single, but Shubman Gill did not respond to the call as he was ball watching. By the time Gill turned and looked back at his skipper, Rohit was nearly at the non-striker’s end.
Eventually, both Rohit and Gill ended up at the non-striker’s end and the Afghanistan fielder had enough time to get the throw to the wicketkeeper’s end and Rahmullah Gurbaz whipped the bails off.
Rohit Sharma was run-out for 0 and the India captain did not hold back as he expressed his frustration in the middle of the ground. Rohit was seen expressing his displeasure to Shubman Gill as he was walking to the pavilion with disappointment written all over his face.
“He is not someone who feels angry at his dismissals, whenever he is out. But on that occasion, he was absolutely livid,” Murali Karthik, who was on air, said.
It was Rohit Sharma’s first outing in T20Is since the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final and it did not go as planned. Notably, head coach Rahul Dravid said on the eve of the first T20I that Yashasvi Jaiswal would open with Rohit in Mohali, but the left-hander missed out due to a sore ankle on the match day. Gill walked out to open with Rohit but the new combination did not work for India.
Earlier in the day, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube shone with the ball as India managed to restrict Afghanistan to 157 for 5 in 20 overs after opting to field. Veteran Mohammad Nabi gave the much-needed impetus to the Afghanistan innings. The visitors added 101 runs in the last 10 overs as the likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar struggled to grip the ball on a cold evening in Mohali.
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