Rohit Sharma and India have come under fire from fans on Twitter for conceding 327 runs and taking just three wickets on Day 1 of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia at The Oval.
India started brilliantly, to say the least. Mohammed Siraj got Usman Khawaja out in just the fourth over, after which David Warner’s poor shot saw him lose his wicket to Shardul Thakur. Mohammed Shami then got Marnus Labuschagne with a peach.
Australia were 76-3 at one point and looked in trouble on the seam-friendly track. However, left-hander Travis Head came in at No. 5 and counter-attacked from the get-go, pushing Indian bowlers on the back foot.
Head reached his hundred off just 106 balls and ended the day on a magnificent unbeaten 146 (156).
At the other end, Steve Smith looked assured as ever and played second fiddle to Head. He ended the day on 95 (227) with 14 boundaries.
Under pressure from these two batters, Indian bowlers lost their rhythm and leaked even more runs. Umesh Yadav was particularly poor for India, conceding just under four runs per over. Thakur, too, despite his wicket, went for 4.2 runs per over.
Fans on Twitter questioned Rohit’s captaincy and said they missed Virat Kohli, who had won India the famous Test against England here in 2021. Here are the top reactions:
Ricky Ponting questions Rohit Sharma and Co.’s selection choices
There were also questions on Rohit Sharma and India’s decision to leave out ICC Test No. 1 ranked bowler Ravichandran Ashwin for the match, including from former Australia captain Ricky Ponting.
“Now that they have won the toss and bowled, they want to do some damage with the new ball. Because as this game goes on, I think it will turn and they would’ve wanted Ashwin to spin the ball away from the Australian left-handers, and he’s not there,” Ponting told Channel 7.
Day 2 will begin at 3:00 pm IST, you can catch the live action here.
