"Arey Viru, thigh pad diya kya pehla ball? Do zero ho gaya yaar" - Rohit Sharma fumes at on-field umpire during IND vs AFG 3rd T20I
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma was left flabbergasted after on-field umpire Virender Sharma awarded his boundary as a leg bye in the third T20I against Afghanistan in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Rohit came into the third and final T20I on the back of successive ducks. He was run out for a duck in the first T20I in Mohali, while he was bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi in the second match in Indore. The skipper, who made his return to the T20I fold after a long 14-month gap recently, was in dire need of runs coming into the series finale.
He technically got off the mark straightaway, after he glanced a delivery by Fareed Ahmed on his pads to the fine leg boundary. The on-field umpire Virender Sharma had signalled leg byes, which even surprised the commentators, but Rohit Sharma was unaware of it.
He confronted the umpire after the wrong decision came to his notice when he got the strike back in the second over. Rohit Sharma's conversation with Virender Sharma, who was crossing the pitch to make it to the square leg position, was caught by the stump mic.
"Arey Viru, thigh pad diya kya pehla ball? Itma bada bat laga hai yaar. Do zero ho gaya yaar," Rohit Sharma said.
Rohit Sharma eventually got off the mark after six dot balls. He took a single off Fareed Ahmed's delivery in the third over of the innings.
Rohit Sharma stranded at one end as Afghanistan seamers dismantle India's batting unit
Right after the skipper scored his first run, Team India proceeded to lose the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli off successive deliveries. Afghanistan enjoyed a superb powerplay as middle-order batters Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson followed suit after scoring just 1 and 0, respectively.
Rohit Sharma is currently unbeaten on 13 runs off 18 deliveries as India are tottering at 30/4 at the end of the powerplay. The skipper is accompanied by Rinku Singh out in the middle as the Afghanistan spinners have come to operate following the seamers' carnage with the new ball.
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