Rohit Sharma failed yet again in his third knock of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy, scoring just 10 runs in the first innings of the Brisbane Test at the Gabba on day four, and his short stay included a mix-up with opener KL Rahul.
In the fourth over of the day bowled by Mitchell Starc, Rahul’s push towards mid-on had a run in it but the batters were in two minds, which led to a stutter before they went through with the run, requiring Rohit to put in a dive to reach his crease at the striker’s end.
After making his ground safely, Rohit got up and admitted to Rahul: “Mai ruk gaya tha yaar (I almost stopped).”
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Rohit fell soon after, edging Pat Cummins to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, as India lost half its side for 74 in reply to Australia’s first-innings total of 445.
Rohit has been struggling ever since the Test series at home against New Zealand and Bangladesh before his arrival in Australia, which was after the Perth Test. Against Bangladesh, Rohit aggregated just 42 runs in four innings and against New Zealand 91 runs in six innings.
Rohit’s two innings in Adelaide and one at the Gabba read 3, 6, and 10 after he selflessly pushed himself down to the middle order as Rahul had rediscovered his form as an opener alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal.
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Coming back to day four in Adelaide, Rahul also stitched a crucial 67-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja before being dismissed by Nathan Lyon for a well-made 84, as Steve Smith took a one-handed blinder in the slips.
Jadeja went on to complete his half-century while batting with fellow all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
At the time this report was published, there was a rain delay at the Gabba, with India’s total reading 180 for 6, still 265 runs behind Australia.
Jadeja was batting on 52 and Reddy on 9 when rain stopped play.