IND vs AFG: "Trust Someone Until..." - Simon Doull Backs Rohit Sharma For Blasting Shubman Gill Post Run-Out

Rohit Sharma was set to announce his return to T20I cricket with a bang but he was out on his very second ball, registering a duck. The most unfortunate thing was he got run out and was stranded at the same end as his partner Shubman Gill who was at the non-striker’s end. Rohit Sharma was set to take on the Afghanistan bowlers right from the start as it could be seen with his intent on Mohali’s track.

Rohit Sharma struck Fazalhaq Farooqi on the second ball of the Indian innings straight to mid-off and called a run immediately after connecting the ball. However, Shubman Gill, instead of following his captain’s call or even looking at him, kept watching the ball on mid-off. The run-out led to a very rare outburst as Rohit was absolutely livid with the outcome. On his way back to the dressing room, he was heard shouting at Shubman Gill and minced not a few, but a lot of words.

Rohit Sharma has previously been spotted being very animated and even expressed displeasure at his teammates. However, this was something else as the man was coming back to the shortest format after 14 months. He was in sensational form in limited-overs cricket, especially the starts that he provided in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Rohit would have backed himself to give India the kind of openings he did during the ODI World Cup a couple of months ago.

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Simon Doull brought the run-out of Rohit Sharma back into the conversation after another mix-up between Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube led to a near-run-out. He asserted that Shivam Dube was at least listening to the calls. He also mentioned that batting in pairs is all about trust and it should not be misused. Shubman Gill trusts Rohit Sharma as they have batted together on many occasions. He shouldn’t have turned around to look at the ball.

Shubman Gill Should Have Trusted Rohit Sharma, Says Simon Doull

“Shivam Dube was actually listening, I don’t mind that. Batting in partnerships is all about trust. And you trust someone until they misuse that trust. Shubman Gill trusts Rohit Sharma first and foremost and doesn’t turn around to look where the ball has gone. He (Rohit) makes it home comfortably. And that’s the problem here. Rohit has called yes. Way before that, and he (Gill) should have gone. And he’s telling him now. Can’t repeat what he said because it’s not very nice. But Rohit Sharma is absolutely spot on and in the right,” Doull, the former New Zealand quick, said.

On similar lines, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan pointed out, “There are two things in running between the wickets. One is trust and the second is your ability to gauge the pace at which your partner can run. It’s not about you being fit enough; it’s also about what your partner wants and how good he is.”

Simon Doull then asked for Deep Dasgupta’s opinion on the incident after the match was completed. Deep Dasgupta was also of the opinion that when the ball goes behind a batter, he should not be watching the ball and should trust his partner’s instinct.

“If the ball has gone behind you, you’ve got to trust your partner. You can’t be looking at the ball. That’s the starting point. That’s where you start, and then you obviously build that trust over the years. Playing with each other, you build that trust. And then you lose it very quickly too when you get run out a few times. In the history of the game, there’ve been quite a few runners you don’t want to trust,” said the former India keeper.

India will face Afghanistan in the second T20I at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on January 14. India has never lost an international match against Afghanistan and if they win the second T20I, Rohit Sharma will equal MS Dhoni’s record of 41 wins as a T20I captain. Virat Kohli is likely to be back for the second T20I and Yashasvi Jaiswal can make a return too which means Shubman Gill might have to sit on the bench for the second game of the series.