Rohit Sharma visibly looked worried as Virat Kohli survived a first-ball duck on Day 1 of the fifth Test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Owing to poor form and in the best interest of the team, Rohit opted out of the Test match with Jasprit Bumrah leading the side.
The incident took place on the fifth ball of the eighth over after India had lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Walking in amidst cheers and boos, Kohli once again pushed a Scott Boland delivery outside off. Steve Smith who was at the second slip
The ball fell in front of Smith who dived to his right to scoop the ball off the turf for the man at gully. Although the Australians thought they had got Kohli, but TV replays showed the ball had touched the ground.
While all these was going on, Rohit, who was sitting on the dressing room, looked worried as he came out of his chair to look at the giant screen, the pictures of which went viral on social media.
India make two changes in Sydney
Earlier, stand-in India captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and elected to bat after regular skipper Rohit Sharma ‘opted to rest’ from the game. “Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game,” Bumrah said. Shubman Gill came back to the playing XI while pacer Prasidh Krishna made his first appearance in the series for India. The two have replaced Rohit and Akash Deep, who is injured.
Australia have handed a debut to all-rounder Beau Webster, who replaced an off-colour Mitchell Marsh. India need to win the Test to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy while Australia need just a draw to take the series. The hosts lead the series 2-1. Meanwhile, Kohli is also facing criticism for his repeated dismissals outside the off-stump in the ongoing BGT thus far.
