The team is struggling at 41 for 4 when you walk in the middle and all you are expected to do is produce a responsible knock.
The team is struggling at 41 for 4 when you walk in the middle and all you are expected to do is produce a responsible knock.
Especially when you are making a come back into the Test side, you really have to make the opportunity count before it gets too late. However, nothing of it really mattered when Rohit Sharma chose to slog sweep Nathan Lyon in the 38th over on the opening day of the first Test against Australia on Thursday.
He had already hit two sixes and was going at a decent rate that gave the freedom to Pujara on the other end to play his natural game and not worry about the run flow. Rohit attacked Lyon on the second delivery of the 38th over as the explosive batsman slog swept over deep square. The connection between the ball and the willow did not quite happen but fortunately for India and Rohit, the ball just cleared Marcus Harris, the Aussie fielder at the boundary.
What followed next was summed by the commentators like this: Rohit just matched Steve Smith in having one of the most shocking brain fades you'd ever see on a cricket field. In the same fashion as the previous delivery, Rohit attempted to slog sweep Lyon again but this time just ended up giving Harris at the same position fo deep square an easy catch.
Why did Rohit try to play that shot just one ball after almost throwing away his start is something one will never understand.
India took lunch at 56 for 4, with Pujara not out 11 and Rohit, who was picked ahead of all-rounder Hanuma Vihari, unbeaten on 15.
Hazlewood was the pick of the Aussie bowling attack with 2-27 off eight overs.
Since the Australian bowlers were making all the difference in the match, Rohit thought he could attack Lyon and unsettle him. Clearly, the plan backfired for him and Team India, who badly wanted their Mumbai batsman to build a crucial stand with Pujara.
Twitter, obviously, was not happy with Rohit once again throwing away the start he got in a Test:
Earlier, Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat in the first Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
India lost their first wicket in the form of KL Rahul who played a loose shot off Josh Hazelwood's delivery and was caught by Aaron Finch at the third slip. Rahul departed at a meager score of 2 runs.
Right-hand batsman Cheteshwar Pujara walked on to the crease at number three and India now had two of their best Test batsmen to take the innings forward. Pujara and Vijay started to build the innings but the Australian pacers came into the picture again and gave another jolt to the Indian side in the form of Murali Vijay.
Pacer Mitchell Starc bowled an absolute stunner at an awkward length to Vijay and enticed him to play a drive. The ball nicked and went straight to the hands of wicket-keeper Tim Paine. Vijay was gone for 11 runs.
Indian Kohli, who holds a tremendous record in Adelaide and had also scored his first Test hundred on this ground, walked in amid huge expectations and pressure. Playing at the score of 3 runs, the right-hand batsman drove a Pat Cummins's delivery which was angling away from him. Kohli was deceived and Usman Khawaja made a superb effort to pluck the catch with his left hand. With Kohli's wicket, Indian hopes of making a comeback started to shatter.
Now it was time for another Test specialist batsman Ajinkya Rahane to come on the crease and join Pujara in order to provide much-needed balance to the stumbling Indian batting order. But the script for the Indian batters did not change. Rahane lost his wicket in the most typical fashion as he edged an outgoing delivery of Josh Hazelwood and gave a simple catch to Peter Handscomb in the second slip.
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 "Rohit Sharma")
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