Rohit Sharma, the Indian Test vice-captain conceded on Saturday said that he does not regret playing the shot to which he got out. Sharma tried to play one shot too many against the Australian spinner, Nathan Lyon. India were in a position of strength when Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara were stitching together a great partnership. Sharma had already hit a boundary off Lyon in the 4th ball of the over and he could have easily played out the over without trying to be aggressive.
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Rohit Sharma in his breezy knock of 44 seemed at great ease while playing at the Gabba, Brisbane. The early departure of his fellow opening partner, Shubman Gill didn’t deter him and he played shots all around the ground. When Lyon was introduced into the attack, Sharma was itching to impose himself on the wily off-spinner but lost his wicket in the process.
Sharma expressed his views in the press conference post completion of Day 2 where he seemed unperturbed about his mode of dismissal. He said, “I reached where I wanted to reach, just that I did not connect with where I wanted to hit the ball. I was trying to pierce that long-on and deep square-leg fielder, I just did not connect with the way I would have loved to. I actually liked what I did today, before coming here, we knew it would be a good pitch to bat, of course, there would be bounce and carry to the keeper, but this is what I enjoy.”
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Rohit Sharma went on to add that, “Once I was in and I had played a few overs, I realised there was not much swing so I did little adjustment there, after that, it was an unfortunate dismissal, it is something I won’t regret. I like to put pressure on the bowler once I am in and that is my role in this team to keep putting pressure on the bowlers. The run-scoring has been slightly difficult for both the teams so someone needs to put their hand up and think about how to put pressure on the bowlers.”
Sharma tried his best to put across his state of mind while dealing with such dismissal and elaborated that, “In doing that, there is a chance of making mistakes but you should be ready to accept that. It was a plan so I have no regrets about playing that shot, it is something I like to, Nathan Lyon is a smart bowler, he bowled into me so I was not able to get the elevation.”
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But former legendary Indian opener, Sunil Gavaskar didn’t buy any of Rohit Sharma’s theory and lambasted the Indian vice-captain. He opined that “Why? Why? Why? That is an unbelievable shot. That’s an irresponsible shot. There is a fielder at long-on, there is a fielder there at deep square leg. You have just hit a boundary a couple of balls earlier, why would you play that shot? You are a senior player, there is no excuse, absolutely no excuse for that shot. An unnecessary wicket, gifted away. Total unnecessary.”
Rohit Sharma’s dismissal leads the match in balance with the Indian team trailing the Australian team by 307 runs. Pujara and stand-in captain, Ajinkya Rahane hold the key for India going into the 3rd Day. It surely promises to be a blockbuster Sunday.
