“World cup final hota phir bi ye he karta?” - Twitterati split over Rohit Sharma’s decision to withdraw run-out appeal against Dasun Shanaka
There was an intriguing moment in the first ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Guwahati as Rohit Sharma withdrew a run-out appeal against Dasun Shanaka, with the latter batting on 98. The incident occurred in the last over of the match bowled by Mohammed Shami.
Chasing 374, Sri Lanka were 288/8 after 49 overs. While the result of the match was a foregone conclusion, there was some excitement over whether Shanaka could get the two runs needed to reach a well-deserved hundred.
As Shami ran in to bowl the fourth delivery of the 50th over, he stopped in his follow-through and dislodged the stumps at the non-striker’s end. The bowler appealed for a run-out and the umpire even signaled a third umpire review.
However, Indian captain Rohit intervened and after a light-hearted chat with the bowler withdrew the appeal. Shanaka went on to complete his hundred, clubbing the last two balls from Shami for four and six, respectively.
Although India won the match by 67 runs, there were mixed reactions to Rohit’s decision of withdrawing the run-out appeal against his opposite number. While quite a few Twitter users praised the Indian skipper's gesture, others questioned whether he would have done the same if this was a World Cup final or a close match.
Here are some reactions from the micro-blogging site:
Batting first after losing the toss, India posed 373/7 as Virat Kohli scored 113 off 87 and Rohit 83 off 67. Sri Lanka finished on 306/8, with Shanaka returning unbeaten on 108 from 88 balls.
“We cannot get him out like that” - Rohit Sharma on the decision to withdraw appeal against Shanaka
At the post-match conference, Rohit was asked about his decision to withdraw the run-out appeal against Shanaka. He replied:
“I had no idea Shami did that (run-out), he was batting on 98. The way he batted was brilliant, we cannot get him out like that. Not something that we thought off, hats off to him, he played really well.”
Shanaka struck 12 fours and three sixes in his wonderful knock, adding an unbroken 100 runs for the ninth wicket with Kasun Rajitha (nine* off 19).