Former India skipper Virat Kohli and team India’s newly-appointed skipper of white-ball cricket Rohit Sharma were heard getting involved in an interesting conversation during the first T20I match between India and West Indies, played on February 16 (Wednesday), in Kolkata.
The incident took place during the 8th over of the match, when West Indies batter Roston Chase was on strike and India’s debutant bowler Ravi Bishnoi was bowling. The interesting conversation between Kohli and Rohit took place after the penultimate delivery of the over was bowled.
What happened
Bishnoi’s googly went down the leg side and immediately a noise was heard before it was successfully grabbed by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. Indian players appealed straightaway but the on-field umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal did not give out rather he signaled a wide.
And this decision baffled the Indian team and Kohli was heard telling Rohit, “Main bol raha hu, tu review le (I’m saying it, you go ahead for the review).”
Indian team did have two reviews left at that point and skipper Rohit opted for a review but the umpires had also decided to ask for a review to check for a stumping chance. But the replays suggested that the ball had deflected off the pads actually. The Indian team did not lose the review eventually as the umpires had asked for referral before skipper Rohit showed the review signal.
Chase survives
Chase did survive the scare at that point but very soon he was dismissed by Bishnoi. In the 11th over of the match, Bishnoi’s googly confused Chase and he missed the ball totally as the ball went on to hit his pads. Umpire did not give him out initially on this occasion but a successful review taken by skipper Rohit saw the umpire overturn his original decision. Chase had to depart after scoring 4 runs off 10 balls.
The hosts ultimately managed to reach a formidable total of 157 runs losing 7 wickets in 20 overs.
India’s debutant bowler Bishnoi picked up two wickets conceding 17 runs in four overs. He was also given the Man of the Match award for his terrific bowling display.
In reply, Indian team reached the target with seven balls remaining and losing four wickets.
