Rohit Sharma was right in his outburst on Shubman Gill after the India captain was run out for a duck, reckons Simon Doull.
Rohit Sharma’s return to T20I cricket, expected to begin with a bang, ended up being a whimper as the India skipper was out for a duck. More unfortunate was his mode of dismissal, run out after being stranded at the same end as his partner Shubman Gill-at the non-striker’s. Rohit set off to do Rohit things, but was stopped in his tracks.
He smashed the second ball of the Indian innings from Fazalhaq Farooqi straight to mid-off, and took off immediately on connecting. But Gill, instead of following his captain’s call or even looking at him, kept ball watching. The run-out led to a very rare outburst as Rohit was absolutely livid with the outcome and minced not a few, but a lot of words to Gill while making his way back to the change room.
Rohit has previously been spotted being very animated and even expressed displeasure at his teammates. But this was something else. This was a man playing his first T20I for India in over 14 months and given the form he was in until November 19, Rohit would have backed himself to give India the kind of starts he did during the ODI World Cup two months ago. Rohit left, Gill was tight-lipped and things went on. But Rohit’s reaction lingered on. So much so that long after the run out was done and dusted, on commentary, Simon Doull brought it back up when another mix-up between Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube led to a near-run out.
“Shivam Dube was actually listening, I don’t mind that. Batting in partnerships is all about trust. And you trust someone until they misuse that trust. Shubman Gill trusts Rohit Sharma first and foremost, and doesn’t turn around to look where the ball has gone. He (Rohit) makes it home comfortably. And that’s the problem here. Rohit has called yes. Way before that, and he (Gill) should have gone. And he’s telling him now. Can’t repeat what he said because it’s not very nice. But Rohit Sharma is absolutely spot on and in the right,” Doull, the former New Zealand quick, said.(HT)