Last Updated on 45 mins by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Did Rohit Sharma retire hurt or retire out against Afghanistan? | Controversial moment in thrilling IND vs AFG 3rd T20I
The third T20I between India and Afghanistan will go down as one of those bilateral T20s that will be remembered for years to come. Rohit Sharma, after two ducks in the opening two matches, came back to form in the most stunning way possible. He smashed 121* off 69 balls in India’s 212/4 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, followed by further big hits in the Super Overs.
Afghanistan were outstanding, with Gulbadin Naib (51 off 23 balls) and Mohammad Nabi (34 off 16 balls) spearheading the chase. They tied the match and came close to defending 17 in the first Super Over. In the end, Rohit and India prevailed in the second Super Over, leaving the Afghans waiting further for a landmark first international win over India.
However, should Rohit have been allowed to bat again in the second Super Over? He seemed to have retired out in the first to allow for Rinku Singh – deemed to be a faster runner – to enter the game in a tactical move. Rohit then came out in the second and hit a four and six.
Did Rohit Sharma retire out or retire hurt?
Given Rohit came back out to bat soon after retiring, the general consensus is he retired out first time around. However, there has been no official word from the umpires as yet.
According to the ICC’s rules, “[a]ny batsman dismissed in any previous Super Over shall be ineligible to bat in any subsequent Super Over.” Retired out is a method of dismissal. So, if Rohit wasn’t injured or ill, it is then an umpiring error to have allowed the Indian captain to bat again.
If Rohit retired hurt, he would have been eligible to come out to bat a second time. However, India coach Rahul Dravid suggested that Rohit had chosen to retire out. He likened incident to Ravichandran Ashwin for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2022 Indian Premier League season.
“Taking himself out was Ashwin-level thinking,” Dravid said. “That’s Ash-level thinking.”
India will now prepare for a five-match Test series against England kicking off later this month. Afghanistan will play a rare Test in early February against Sri Lanka before three T20Is and three ODIs in the Island Nation.
