Captain Shubman Gill missed a big opportunity to put India in the driver’s seat in the ongoing third ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday (October 25).
For the third time in a row in the ongoing series, the India captain made the wrong decision at the toss as Australia chose to bat first.
India lost another toss
Captain Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head gave a solid start to the host team by adding 61 runs for the first wicket. This partnership broke in the 10th over when Mohammad Siraj dismissed Head for 29 runs.
It was a back-of-the-length delivery from Siraj and Head stepped back to make space for himself. However, he could not keep his late cut on the ground as he hit the ball straight to Prasidh Krishna at backward point. His innings of 29 runs came off 25 balls and included six fours.
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Shubman Gill failed to hit the stumps
In the same over, India was very close to taking the second wicket but their captain Shubman Gill made a big mistake. He had a chance to run out the in-form Matt Short but failed to hit the stumps at close range.
The Australian batsman had not yet opened his account when he pushed Siraj’s ball towards short cover. The fielder could not collect the ball cleanly and it rolled towards mid-off.
As the fielder failed to collect the ball, Short looked to steal a quick single, but Marsh said no. However, it was Short’s decision and the Australian batsmen ultimately decided to take singles.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill moved towards the ball and had enough time to hit the ball on the stumps. He had all three stumps to aim for but failed to hit a direct hit. When the ball went past the stumps, the batsman was nowhere in the frame and the reaction of the Indian players told it all.
Mark Waugh said on air, “He should have been out, Shubman Gill took too much time there.” “He wanted to throw at the keeper and later changed his mind,” he said.
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– Crictalk (@crictalk7) 25 October 2025
Talking about the match, till the time of writing the news, Australia’s score was 72/1 in the 13th over. Marsh was batting on 30 runs while Short was unbeaten on 6 runs.