Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik downplayed Rohit Sharma’s six-ball duck in the opening ODI against India. Rohit could not clear the mid-off fielder and was dismissed without troubling the scorers at Eden Park, Auckland on Wednesday.
The Indian veteran had recently scored 225 runs in three matches against the West Indies at an average of 75 and thus he has been in decent form.
“I suppose so, in hindsight, he must be feeling that. But there are certain shots which certain people play, and that is a shot which he plays as well. We always talk about the trademark pull shot, where he has ample time to hit it wherever he wants, but there are also days where he plays the lovely elevated drive over mid-off, and that is what he tried, and it did not come off. It is just one of those days, I don’t read too much into those,” Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz.
Meanwhile, India was well placed at 114-1 in the run-chase of 143 (DLS target) but lost four wickets of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer. However, former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu said he would not read too much into it.
He said, “In hindsight, yes. But I would not read too much into it because these guys also want to go out there and express themselves in whatever little time they get. I am sure, if one or two wickets fell earlier, then things would have been different, Shreyas and KL would have stepped up and played an innings of substance. So, we cannot say anything at this point in time.”
Eventually, India registered a comprehensive five-wicket win with 56 balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The second ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at the Hnry Stadium, Wellington on Saturday.
