Former India batter Gautam Gambhir was left unimpressed with the way Rohit Sharma lost his wicket in the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, September 10.
The much-anticipated Super Fours match witnessed a bright start by the opener duo of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. They carved out an admirable 121-run partnership for the opening wicket which ended when Rohit Sharma lost his wicket to Shadab Khan. He scored 56 off just 49 balls but was out His attempt to take on Shadab Khan's delivery saw the ball landing safely into the hands of Pakistan's Faheem Ashraf at long-off.
Soon after, Shubman Gill encountered his own unfortunate dismissal. He was cunningly deceived by a slower ball from the prodigious bowler, Shaheen Shah Afridi. This led Gill to present a gentle catch to Agha Salman in the covers.
Team India managed to post an impressive 147/2 in just 24.1 overs. But then the game was hit by rains. The downpour pressed pause on the Super Fours match, pushing it to resume on the designated reserve day in Colombo.
"I feel he will be extremely disappointed. The way Rohit Sharma got out, it was an extremely bad shot. He himself knows that shot deserves to be criticized because Pakistan were down and out at that stage," Gambhir said while reviewing the day's play on Star Sports.
"At one point, it seemed India might score 370-375. Rohit Sharma played a bad shot and Shubman Gill got out in the very next over. You don't want to give even the slightest window to a bowling attack like Pakistan," Gambhir added.
Gambhir pointed out that the Indian captain's dismissal allowed Babar Azam and company to make a comeback in the game.
"At one point, it seemed India might score 370-375. Rohit Sharma played a bad shot and Shubman Gill got out in the very next over. You don't want to give even the slightest window to a bowling attack like Pakistan," Gambhir explained.
Gautam Gambhir was even more disappointed by Rohit Sharma's dismissal against Shadab Khan. "You gave a window and you played that shot against the bowler you had hit for 30 runs in two overs. If it had been a bowler who had been bowling well, it would have been alright as you were under pressure. If you had just stood there, he would have given you one or two bad balls every over."
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