India lost their second successive game in the Super-4 stage of the Asia Cup 2022 to Sri Lanka by six wickets on Tuesday (September 6) to be pushed to the brink of elimination from the tournament where they were rated as favourites.
In the final over bowled by Arshdeep Singh, Sri Lanka, chasing 174 to win, needed just 7 runs which they accumulated with an element of fortune on the penultimate ball as Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep both missed opportunities to affect direct-hits and run out the Sri Lankan batters Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka at either ends.
There was an element of controversy on social media after the game as some miscreants, particularly from Pakistan, tried to create a false narrative of Indian captain Rohit Sharma turning his back on Arshdeep in the final over, while the fast bowler seemingly wanted to talk over something.
Here's the clip that was shared widely on Twitter which went viral and resulted in a backlash against Rohit for not treating his young pacer with respect:
In reality, nothing of that sort happened as Rohit was in touch with Arshdeep before almost every delivery in the final over and set fields as asked by the bowler who was trying to execute his yorkers.
As explained with a full clip by a Twitter user, you can easily make out the clip that circulated earlier was cut specifically in a way to create a controversy as unfortunately social media has lately become a heaven for such opportunists.
Watch the full clip here:
Rohit, infact, in his post-match press conference lauded the young Punjab fast bowler and said he did very well to maintain his composure with the ball under pressure despite the dropped catch of Asif Ali in the previous game against Pakistan.
Arshdeep had faced a lot of vile abuse and trolling after the Pakistan game but his effort in the final over where he dismissed Asif was appreciated by a lot of experts and fans. Yesterday too, he almost brought the game down to the last ball defending 7 runs in the last over, but for the fielding mishap.
India faces the prospect of elimination if Pakistan defeats Afghanistan later tonight in Sharjah.
