Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar slams Rohit Sharma and says he wasn’t surprised with Rohit’s mode of dismissal as he has been getting out to similar deliveries during the IPL.
Sunil Gavaskar on Rohit’s Dismissal in WTC 2023 Final
Winning the toss, Rohit Sharma led the Indian Test team opted to bowl first and that too particularly without the world’s top-ranked Test bowler – spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
With Australia 76/3 at one stage it looked as if India’s selection could be the right one. But an unbroken 251-run stand between Head and Smith helped Australia to 469 at the close, leaving India on the back foot in the game.
Earlier, Bowling coach Paras Mhambrey backs Indian bowlers after an unimpressive first day in WTC 2023 final and explains the reason for the exclusion of Ashwin from the playing 11.
While on the other hand, the Australian bowling attack came out strong, reducing India to 151-5 by stumps on day two. Pat Cummins drew first blood by removing Rohit Sharma, while Scott Boland and Cameron Green showcased their skills to dismiss Shubman Gill and Chiteshwar Pujara, respectively.
Rohit Sharma who opened the inning along with Gill failed to make an impact in India’s 1st inning. Rohit lost his wicket for 15 runs in the 6th over bowled by Pat Cummins.
The left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc generated extra bounce to dismiss Virat Kohli for 14 runs while Lyon dismissed Jadeja for 48 runs. India ended up scoring 269 runs in their first innings.
Rohit, who had endured a poor outing during the recently concluded Indian Premier League season (IPL), tried to play Cummins’ delivery across the line but was beaten by pace and the ball hit his pads straight in front of the stumps.
“I think it’s a couple of misjudgements from probably like Shubman Gill, who has been in great form. Losing him was a big blow. Rohit Sharma has been not in the best of touches in the IPL. So, him playing across the line was not that much of a surprise,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Gavaskar, however, was critical of Cheteshwar Pujara for throwing away his wicket, saying that he could’ve avoided it by covering his stumps.
“But again Pujara, not quite covering his stumps and getting out. So these were the dismissals that could have been avoided. But to Australia’s credit, they bowled a much fuller length and got the batters into thinking that the line was such that most batters – however good you are, that off stump, there is always a little bit of uncertainty,” he added.
During the 1st session of Day 4, Australia scored 162 runs for 5 wickets loss where Cameron Green and Alex Carey stands at the crease.
