Watch- Rohit Sharma clean bowled by Tim Southee; Gautam Gambhir in shock
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India captain Rohit Sharma was bowled by a terrific in-swinging ball from New Zealand seamer Tim Southee in the first Test between India and New Zealand at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. It was an excellent delivery by Tim Southee who pitched the ball perfectly and got the ball to jag back in.
During the third ball of the seventh over of India's first innings, Rohit Sharma tried to reach the pitch of the ball and loft the ball straight over the bowler's head. But Southee was accurate and clever enough.
The experienced quickly pushed back his length a bit which deceived Rohit's lofted punch down the ground. The ball came in sharply after pitching and beat Rohit's inside edge to hit the top of the leg bail.
Also read: IPL 2025: Mumbai Indians close down their retentions; Rohit Sharma-Hardik Pandya fate sealed
Watch- Rohit Sharma gets bowled by Tim Southee off an in-swinging ripper
— Kirkit Expert (@expert42983) October 17, 2024
It was a perfect ball from the experienced NZ fast bowler as the ball hit the top of the stumps. Rohit Sharma was dismissed for just 2 runs off 16 balls. The Indian captain never got going in his innings and was beaten on the inside and the outside edges on several occasions.
Rohit Sharma previously survived a close leg-before call which the on-field umpire gave not out. NZ reviewed but the ball was shown to be clipping the top of the stumps. However, his luck ran out quickly as he was dismissed while trying to counter-attack.
Difficult morning for India openers
It was a difficult morning session for Team India's openers as both Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal were all at sea against New Zealand's opening Tim Southee and Matt Henry.
Southee and Henry made full use of the overcast conditions at Bengaluru and kept persisting on a good line and length despite being unlucky on several occasions in the initial phase of the first hour.
Indian openers somehow survived the first six overs but their luck ran out as Rohit Sharma was dismissed for another low score. This was Rohit's fifth consecutive low score in a row in Test cricket.
Rohit Sharma's fifth consecutive low score in Tests
He registered four consecutive low scores against Bangladesh in the two-match Test series. His form can be a cause of concern for the Indian team management as he is one of India's premier batters in the format.
India will hope for their talismanic batter to regain some form ahead of the much-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year. Rohit's form is also crucial given he is also captain of the team.
Earlier in the day, Rohit Sharma won the toss but surprisingly elected to bat first in overcast conditions. India decided to play three spinners instead of three seamer-strategy that they used in the series against Bangladesh.
India made two changes from the 2nd Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur. Sarfaraz Khan replaced Shubman Gill as the latter was unfit for the game. Meanwhile, left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav replaced Akash Deep as an extra spin option.
