Fans expressed their frustration with Indian captain Rohit Sharma following his early dismissal for eight off 13 balls in the T20 World Cup Super 8 match against Afghanistan on Thursday, June 20. The crucial clash took place at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Rohit started his innings cautiously, scoring five runs in the first over bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi. However, in the third over, he attempted to hit across the line but was caught at mid-on by Rashid Khan, falling prey to the two-paced nature of the wicket.
Rohit’s ongoing struggle against left-arm pacers was evident once again. He had previously been dismissed by bowlers like Saurabh Netravalkar and Shaheen Afridi in the group-stage matches. Notably, Rohit holds the record for the most (19) single-digit dismissals for India in ICC events.
Fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their disappointment:
“ROHIT SHARMA has been dismissed by a left-arm pacer for the 24th time in T20I. Most by anyone in the format!!” one fan exclaimed.
“2022 T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul giving negative starts. 2024 T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli giving negative starts,” another fan pointed out.
“Removing Jaiswal from the opening was the worst decision, Rohit Sharma needs some time at the start, especially in these conditions,” a fan tweeted.
India’s Top-Order Fails to Deliver Against Afghanistan
Rohit Sharma wasn’t the only top-order batter to falter. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant also failed to make significant contributions.
Kohli managed 24 off 24 balls but couldn’t build on his start and was caught at long-off. Pant, despite getting a lifeline, was trapped LBW by Rashid Khan after scoring 20 off 11 balls.
However, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube came to the rescue, stitching together a 28-run partnership. At the time of writing, India was at 90/4 in 11 overs with Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav at the crease.
Can India’s Middle Order Steer Them to a Competitive Total? Stay tuned to see if the Men in Blue can recover from their rocky start.
