After making a comeback to the shortest format post a break of 14 months, Rohit Sharma played for India in the initial T20I against Afghanistan on January 11, in Mohali. Despite the home team securing a comfortable six-wicket victory, Rohit’s performance with the bat wasn’t particularly memorable. Following a disciplined performance by the Indian bowlers that restricted Afghanistan to 158/5 on a decent batting track, Rohit Sharma came out to open alongside Shubman Gill.
The Fans were eager to witness the ‘Hitman’ show his skills, but unfortunately, his stint at the crease was short-lived and lasted for only a couple of deliveries. On the second ball of the innings, Rohit attempted to drive a delivery from Fazalhaq Farooqi to his counterpart, Ibrahim Zadran, at mid-off. Although Rohit went for a single, Gill was caught off guard. Ultimately, both batsmen found themselves at the non-striker’s end as the veteran had to depart for a duck, run-out.
Expressing an immense disappointment after the run-out, Rohit Sharma was observed venting his frustration at Shubman Gill. During the post-match presentation, the 36-year-old was being questioned about the incident. Rohit acknowledged that such occurrences are frustrating, especially when they are unable to make a meaningful contribution with the bat. The seasoned Indian batsman also emphasized his desire for Gill to have a substantial innings and praised his quick cameo of 23 runs off 12 balls.
“These things happen (on the run-out). When it happens you feel frustrated, you want to be out there and score runs for the team. Everything will not go your way. We won the game, that’s more important. I wanted Gill to carry on, unfortunately, got out after playing a very good little innings,” Rohit said.
We want to keep trying different things: Rohit Sharma
Rohit highlighted several positives from the inaugural encounter, commending the performances of Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, and Rinku Singh. The legendary India batter also discussed the strategic choice to have Washington Sundar bowl in the penultimate over of the first innings. He even assured that the team will be keeping on changing their combination but not at the cost of losing games.
“Lot of positives. Shivam Dube, the way Jitesh batted, Tilak as well and then Rinku is in good form as well. We want to keep trying different things – try and bowl our bowlers in different situations of the game like you saw today, Washi bowled the 19th over. Moreover, we want to challenge ourselves in the areas we are slightly uncomfortable with and the bowlers are not used to that. We want to try and do that. Keeping all of those things in mind, we’ll try and do whatever is possible but not at the cost of the game,” Rohit added.
