India captain Rohit Sharma went out to bat in the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy under lots of pressure. Rohit has been in awful form recently and needs to score runs desperately to regain some confidence.
Under such pressure, Rohit was lucky not to be dismissed after a huge mix-up with his batting partner KL Rahul. During the 16th over of India’s innings, KL Rahul tucked a ball to the right of midwicket and immediately called for a single.
Rohit was slightly late to start which led to a horrible mix-up between the two batters. Both the batters even stranded in the middle of the crease at one point but Australian captain Pat Cummins misfielded the ball at midwicket for an easy single.
After the mix-up, Rohit Sharma was not pleased with KL Rahul and immediately scolded him by saying, “KL Jaane de udhar se (KL, let the ball go from there)”.
Watch: Frustrated with Kohli and Rohit, Gautam Gambhir starts shadow batting in Brisbane dressing room
Watch: Rohit Sharma scolds KL Rahul after huge mix-up
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KL Rahul too responded back to Rohit Sharma as their conversation was recorded on the stump mic. “Pehle hi boldo mai piche chala jaunga (You can tell me and I won’t run),” Rahul said.
Rohit then replied back by saying, “Wo kitna aage hai samajh nahi aa raha isliye (It’s difficult to understand where he is standing).” Rohit said this while referring to Pat Cummins, who was stationed at midwicket.
— Drizzyat12Kennyat8 (@45kennyat7PM) December 16, 2024
It would have been a disaster for India but both the batters were safe in the end. The run out was the last thing India would have wanted at this stage. Australian players had their hands on their heads as they rued the missed opportunity that could have brought India to the mat.
India bowl Australia out in morning session
Meanwhile, it was a frustrating day overall where rain arrived in patches and played spoilsport consistently. In the morning session, India bowled Australia out for 445 in their first innings. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 6-76 but didn’t quite get the support from the other end.
In reply, India started poorly and lost Yashasvi Jaiswal in just the second ball of the innings by Mitchell Starc. Starc then removed Shubman Gill in his next over to rock India further.
India’s middle order fails again
Virat Kohli played a few balls but was dismissed for another low score. It was a similar mode of dismissal for Kohli as Hazlewood bowled a ball on fourth stump to have him caught behind for just 3.
The carnage didn’t stop here as Pat Cummins dismissed Rishabh Pant for just 9 runs. Pant’s wicket was a huge setback for India, who were looking for a good partnership.
The Men in Blue were 51-4 at stumps on Day 4 with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma still at the crease. Rahul was unbeaten on 33 while Rohit is yet to open his account.