Though Rohit Sharma is not the Indian cricket team captain anymore, he remains a leader within the group and participates actively when it comes to discussions regarding the DRS, especially when spinner Kuldeep Yadav is involved.
A funny bit of drama happened between Rohit and Kuldeep on Saturday in the India vs South Africa 3rd ODI, played in Visakhapatnam. Rohit’s words and actions towards Kuldeep’s plea for multiple DRS even left KL Rahul and Virat Kohli in splits.
Rahul, the stand-in skipper for the IND vs SA ODI series in the absence of the injured Shubman Gill, had won the toss—India had lost 20 consecutive tosses in ODIs, a freakish streak that began in the 2023 World Cup final—and inserted the Proteas in.
A topsy-turvy South African innings—that included a rollicking century from Quinton de Kock, a sedate knock from Temba Bavuma, and a career microcosm of Prasidh Krishna, who finished with figures of 4/66—was grinding to a halt gradually after India made a comeback in the latter half.
In the 43rd over, with Kuldeep bowling his ninth over, having already taken three wickets, the wrist-spinner rapped Lungi Ngidi on the pads after beating him on the inside edge. All three, Kuldeep, Rohit, and Rahul, went up in appeal for an LBW, but they were denied by the umpire.
Kuldeep then proceeded to ask Rahul, the interim captain, to take the review. Rahul looked behind to Rohit at first slip, and the former captain immediately said no to a review, sensing that the ball would have slid down the leg side from Kuldeep’s around-the-wicket angle.
Kuldeep continued to plead, triggering Rohit, who then told him off, gesturing for him to go back and continue bowling. As Kuldeep walked back to his bowling mark with a bemused look at Rohit and Rahul, Sharma seemed to have gotten a little more offended. He could be lip-read saying, “Pad pe ball laga toh out hai? (If it hits the pad, it’s always out for you?)”
On the next delivery, Kuldeep and Rahul appealed once again, but this time the batsman had indeed played it with the bat. This time, even Rohit couldn’t control his laughter as he advised Rahul once again to not waste the DRS.
The cameras captured both Rahul and Virat Kohli smiling at Rohit’s scolding of Kuldeep; this certainly wasn’t the first time in their careers that Rohit had had to shut down Kuldeep’s demands for DRS.
Video: Rohit Sharma Scolds Kuldeep Yadav Over DRS; Kohli, Rahul Laugh At The Spinner In IND vs SA 3rd ODI
Meanwhile, India currently hold the upper hand in the IND vs SA 3rd ODI in Vizag. At the time of writing, India are 111/0 after 21 overs in the chase of 271.
Earlier, South Africa’s innings had two contrasting halves. De Kock’s blazing century propelled them to 167/2 at the 27-over mark, from where a total in excess of 320 looked very likely. However, Prasidh, who was smoked for 27 runs in only two overs, returned with a much better spell to derail South Africa with three wickets in one spell. And once de Kock and Brevis departed, India controlled the game and halted the Proteas at 270.
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