Hilarious video of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill imitating Kuldeep Yadav's batting stance goes viral
A fun video of Indian captain Rohit Sharma and batter Shubman Gill imitating Kuldeep Yadav's batting stance on Day 3 of the Ranchi Test against England on Sunday, February 25, has gone viral on social media.
Resuming their second innings on Day 3 on 219/7, India stretched their total to 307, keeping England’s first-innings lead to 46 runs. Kuldeep and Dhruv Jurel, who joined forces in the last session on Day 2 and frustrated England, continued to thwart the visitors on Day 3. They ended up featuring in a hugely significant 76-run stand for the eighth wicket before Kuldeep was bowled by James Anderson.
As the lower-order batter battled it out in the middle, a video went viral on social media in which Rohit and Gill were spotted imitating Kuldeep’s batting stance in the dressing room, with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal watching on.
Not only his teammates but Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar was also impressed by Kuldeep’s batting stance. Reacting to a side-on video of the left-hander's batting stance, Gavaskar commented that it looked "Steve Smith-like", leaving his colleagues in splits.
Kuldeep, who scored a defiant 28 off 131 balls, a knock which featured only two fours, was dismissed in unfortunate fashion. The lower-order Indian batter defended a short of a good length from Anderson that was angling back into him. However, the ball hit his toes and deflected backward to dislodge the stumps.
Following Kuldeep’s dismissal, keeper-batter Jurel continued to defy England’s bowlers. He added 40 runs for the ninth wicket with Akash Deep (9) and was the last man dismissed in the Indian innings for a brilliant 90.
It needed a ripper from Tom Hartley that turned past the batter’s defense and knocked down the stumps to end Jurel's resistance. The keeper-batter's 90 came off 149 balls and featured six fours and four sixes.
Kuldeep Yadav was one of three batters to face more than 100 balls in India’s first innings
Only three batters faced more than 100 balls in India’s first innings against England in Ranchi and Kuldeep was one of them. Opener Jaiswal scored 73 off 117 balls, with the aid of eight fours and one six.
As mentioned earlier, Kuldeep faced 131 balls for his resolute 28, while Jurel batted for 149 balls for his 90.
For England, young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir finished with 5/119, while Hartley claimed 3/68.