- Thursday, May 16, 2024
Gill did not leave the crease despite Rohit Sharma reaching his end, trying to take a quick single.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA captain Rohit Sharma made a comeback in the T20 arena in the first game against Afghanistan in Mohali in India’s Punjab on Thursday (11) but it was not a happy return. The 36-year-old saw himself getting run out for naught in a horrible mix-up with fellow opening partner Shubman Gill in just the second ball of the innings.
Sharma was livid with the result and was seen reacting to his younger colleague in an animated manner.
It so happened that Sharma played a fuller-length delivery from pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi towards the off side and ran for a quick single. The fielder at mid-off — Ibrahim Zadran — didn’t collect the ball in the first attempt. But still he had all the time to run the India skipper out as Gill did not move from his crease at the other end. Both batters ended up on the same side and though Sharma understood the disaster, it was far too late as the bails were dislodged by Afghanistan wicket-keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the unmanned end.
Read: India beat Afghanistan by 6 wickets in 1st T20
Rohit gone for duck ðŸ˜#RohitSharma #Gill #IndvsAfg #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/xpSGnreCm5
— Shubham Chand (@shubhamchand768) January 11, 2024
Sharma, who was playing a T20 after more than a year, was heard screaming at Gill out of frustration, expressing his utter disappointment. He even turned him down while returning to the dressing room as Gill tried to make his point. It was the fifth time that Sharma, an explosive batter, got out for a duck in the T20s and equalled the likes of Pakistan’s Babar Azam, former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and Ireland’s former captain William Porterfield.
Read: Why Virat Kohli missed 1st T20 against Afghanistan? Coach Rahul Dravid clarifies
Gill scored 23 off 12 balls but India recovered well to overhaul the target of 159 that Afghanistan set before them, with six wickets in hand. All-rounder Shivam Dube slammed 60 not out off 40 balls, wicket-keeper-batter Jitesh Sharma made 31 off 20 and Tilak Varma scored 26 off 22 to help India win the game and go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
Earlier, India bowlers restricted Afghanistan to 158 for 5 in 20 overs after the home captain won the toss and elected to bowl. Mohammad Nabi scored the highest for the visitors — 42 off 27 balls. For India, pacer Mukesh Kumar and spinner Axar Patel picked two wickets each.
Virat Kohli, another senior India batter to make a comeback into the T20 format after November 2022, didn’t play the first game due to personal reasons but will appear in the next two games.
