Former India National Cricket Team skipper Rohit Sharma couldn’t stop himself from captaining during the second ODI of the three-match series against the Australia National Cricket Team.
India locked horns with Australia in the second ODI match at the Adelaide Oval and suffered a 2-wicket loss, handing the Mitchell Marsh-led side a series win with one match remaining
Rohit Sharma’s captaincy instincts take over in Adelaide
Shubman Gill replaced Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain of India ahead of the Australia tour. At the press conference, chief selector Ajit Agarkar justified the move, saying that they want to give Shubman Gill some time to settle in the role ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
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Shubman Gill started off his ODI captaincy career with a crushing defeat to Australia in Perth, and the performance of his team didn’t improve in the second match either.
Batting first, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli failed miserably before Rohit Sharma blasted 73 runs off 97 balls. Shreyas Iyer also played a good knock of 61 runs while Axar Patel chipped in with 44 runs as India posted 264/9 on the board.
Defending the total, Indian bowlers did a good job initially, but the inexperienced Aussie batters played a positive brand of cricket and took the match away from India.
During the bowling innings, Rohit Sharma did some leadership duties despite no longer being in that role. He was seen guiding bowlers and having a chat with Shubman Gill, and a couple of clips of the moments went viral on social media.
In one video, Rohit Sharma was seen giving a lecture to Washington Sundar after the 33rd to improve his line and length while bowling to Cooper Connolly, and Gill was seen in the background, busy setting up the field for the next over.
Also, before the start of the 47th over, which turned out to be the last over, Rohit Sharma was seen explaining plans to Arshdeep Singh with Shubman Gill standing beside him.
“The key for the off-spinner to the left-hander is to move the ball away from the batter, and bowl a little slower. Generally captains come and tell the bowlers what to do…,” said former India fast bowler Varun Aaron on commentary, seeing Rohit’s act.
Watch: Rohit Sharma guides Indian bowlers
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Nice to beat India – Adam Zampa
Australia’s premier leg-spinner, Adam Zampa, returned with the bowling figures of 4/60 against India in Adelaide and was awarded Player of the Match.
Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Adam Zampa expressed delight over a series win against India. He elaborated:
“Nice to beat India. It’s always been a good battle against them, particularly in one-day cricket. Even in India, we’ve always tested them and they’ve come here and tested us at times as well. Two teams that have adapted to the conditions really well. They’re the best team in the world. They have been for a little while now. So, it’s great to test ourselves against them.
“Those guys (pacers) have been owning powerplay for a long time. So, I have been very grateful and lucky. And then you’ve got the guys coming in, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, doing their thing through the middle. It makes my job a lot easier through the middle. The beauty of Mitch (Marsh) is that he’s chilled, relaxed, never too emotional. We run our own show out there with the ball.”
Also Read: Virat Kohli No.1, Rohit Sharma at bottom! Ravi Shastri names India’s top 5 ODI cricketers
