Rohit Sharma stunned the Delhi Capitals players when he dodged wicketkeeper KL Rahul and captain Axar Patel to waste a review for a down-the-leg appeal, which he converted in a jiffy by walking a few steps towards square leg.
Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals clashed in their second franchise match of the IPL season. Mumbai Indians were led by their stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav after Hardik Pandya struggled with form due to injury.
Despite losing the toss, stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav was feeling relieved as he mentioned that his team would have opted to bat first if they had won the toss. However, Mumbai Indians struggled on a slow pitch and could not set a big target for the Capitals.
Rohit Sharma chides DC captain for ruining DRS
However, Rohit Sharma once again did not shy away from his wit and sharp cricketing antics as he provoked his own Indian teammates KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel into ruining the review even though they knew he was not out.
Putting all his experience to work, Rohit convinced KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav that they had bowled down the leg, and he challenged the umpire’s decision to review. Just then Rohit, who had walked a few steps onto the pitch, immediately returned with a broad smile on his face.
The reviewed decision was overruled by the third umpire, and the DC skipper had certainly fallen into the trap laid by one of the great minds of Indian cricket. This incident happened during the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav on the fifth ball of the 9th over.
Once replays showed that there was a huge gap between bat and ball that no batsman could discern, commentators were amazed at Rohit’s cleverness in deceiving the opposition players. Former India coach Ravi Shastri also did not shy away from praising Rohit and called him ‘Shana’.
Ravi Shastri said on air, “How good Rohit Sharma was there. He walked five yards towards square leg and forced a review. We will have to look at it again. That’s a brilliant performance from Rohit Sharma.”
Even former Zimbabwe fast bowler Pommy Mbangwa was surprised by the former MI skipper’s acumen. “Rohit is walking back, and he’s halfway to the fence. The beauty was when he started laughing after they went up. He’s laughing because, ‘I’ve got you and I’ve got you. You’re going to lose a review’.”
Rohit tops Orange Cap list with impressive IPL record against DC
Despite all the tricks, Rohit could not continue his innings for long after this, which he also admitted during the conversation with Ravi Shastri and Murali Karthik after the innings. He was out in the very next over after scoring 35 runs on the ball of captain Akshar Patel.
Rohit scored his 100th 30+ score in IPL and became the second player after Virat Kohli to reach this milestone. At the same time, with these 35 runs, Rohit has now scored 113 runs after two innings in this IPL and he is the topper in the scorer board of the competition.
Also read: Former England captain urges Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to reconsider their T20I retirement
