Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has lauded Rohit Sharma’s decision to ‘retire out’ during the first super over of the third and final T20I against Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 17 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Team India won the match in the second super-over, defending 12 runs. They have whitewashed Afghanistan in the three-match series.
Afghanistan set India a target of 17 in the first Super Over. Rohit Sharma came out to bat along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Two sixes from the Indian skipper reduced the equation to three runs from the final two deliveries. Rohit took a single off the fifth delivery and went off the strike. Yashasvi Jaiswal needed to score two off the final ball to win India the match.
Showing a great presence of mind, Rohit Sharma retired himself and brought Rinku Singh in, as India needs a fast-runner at the non-striker’s end. The Super Over eventually too ended in a tie. Rohit’s decision has sparked controversy on social media. Talking about the incident, Rahul Dravid hailed Rohit Sharma’s smart thinking. He said to the broadcasters,
“Taking himself out was Ashwin-level thinking. That’s Ash-level thinking.”
In the second Super Over, India set Afghanistan a target of 12 runs. The visitors succumbed to Ravi Bishnoi’s brilliance, losing two wickets for 1 run. Earlier, India put on 212 runs on the board on the back of Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh’s brilliant partnership. Rohit Sharma slammed a century, while Rinku scored 69 runs. In response, the fifties from the top three batters and a great cameo by Nabi helped Afghanistan to tie.
I think it’s fine: Rahul Dravid on controversial run during Super Over
Another controversial incident that took place during the India vs Afghanistan T20I was Mohammad Nabi’s run in the first Super Over. On the final delivery of the Afghanistan batting, Mohammad Nabi took three runs off a bye. However, Rohit Sharma was livid as the Afghanistan batters ran two runs over a deflection off Nabi’s pads. Speaking about the controversy, Rahul Dravid said,
“It is part of the game. It is fine. Sometimes you get frustrated that it happens, but it’s fair enough, all part of the game.”
“It hit the non-striker and it moved. And I think that’s fine and you can run for those. In the first T20, I think there was an incident where the ball hit the bat of one of our batsmen and we took a run as well. So I think there is nothing to read into it and I don’t think there is anything in the rules that stops you from actually taking those runs,” the 51-year-old said.
“Arguments can happen at the end of tight games. I think when you play for your country, there is so much passion and emotion and I think it is incredible that even in dead rubber games when it gets down to the wire, the competitiveness and passion come out. As long as it doesn’t cross the line, and that’s why we have match referees to look at these things,” added Rahul Dravid.
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