Rohit Sharma’s animated gesture was one of the talking points from the first T20I between India and Australia in Mohali on Tuesday (September 20).
During the 12th over of Australia’s innings, Steve Smith edged a delivery from Umesh Yadav to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. While the on-field umpire declared it not out, the Indian camp opted for DRS and got a favourable result.
In the same over, Glenn Maxwell edged one to Karthik and the umpire once again didn’t raise his finger, leading to the home team taking DRS one more time and the decision had to be reserved.
It was at this time India skipper Rohit Sharma looked very animated. He was seen grabbing Karthik's neck in a playful manner, which went viral on social media.
On the eve of the second T20I in Nagpur, India batter Suryakumar Yadav explained what had actually transpired between Rohit and Karthik during that Maxwell DRS.
"Rahi baat wo DRS ki toh kabhi kabhi peeche tak awaz jati nahi hai aur left and right mein acche se awaz ati hai edge ki aur unka wo alag hi banter hai, itne saalo se jante hai ek dusre ko aur ek saath itna khela hua hai toh itna toh hasi mazak thoda banta hai. (Talking about that DRS, you don't hear the edges clearly from behind the stumps at times but you do from the right or left side of the field. And that was their banter. They know each other for a long time and have played a lot of cricket together so that kind of fun moments are allowed between them)," Suryakumar said in a pre-match press conference on Thursday (September 22).
Rohit’s animated gesture drew criticism as well but Suryakumar said nothing has changed with the Indian captain.
"Field pe itna pressure hota hai ki har situation mein kya karna hai toh aisa ho jata hai kabhi kabhi (These things happen on the cricket field because at times there is a lot of pressure.)"
Team India failed to defend a massive total of 208 runs in the opening T20I and conceded a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Cameron Green (61 off 30 balls) and Matthew Wade (45* off 21 balls) produced whirlwind knocks as the defending T20 World Cup champions got over the line with four wickets and as many deliveries to spare.
It was a listless bowling display from the Men in Blue. Barring Akshar Patel (3-17), all the Indian bowlers were taken to the cleaners. In particular, the Aussie batters were severe on Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-52) and Harshal Patel (0-49) as they aggregated 101 runs from their eight overs.
When asked about the talk in the dressing room about the bowling performance in Mohali, Suryakumar said: "Last game k baad hum baithe nahi hai. match itna lamba gaya, dew bhi aya aur aapko credit bhi unko dena padega. They kept attacking. We are trying our best. (We haven't talked about the strategies yet. You have to give credit to Australia also."
(With Hindustan Times inputs)
