Don’t write off champions: Nathan Lyon on Kohli’s recent batting slump
The Australian team must be hoping to take advantage of Virat Kohli’s prolonged batting slump when the two sides clash in the five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy
Three days after Rohit Sharma joined an elite group of batters to scale Mt 10k ODI runs, the India skipper on Friday matched his predecessor in recording an unwanted ODI feat, during the inconsequential Asia Cup Super Four match against Bangladesh on Friday.
Chasing Bangladesh’s 265 for 8, Rohit, who has been in great touch, scoring back-to-back fifties in the last two Super Four Games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, looked set for another stellar knock. But Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib had other plans. On the second ball of the opening over, Sakib bowled a fuller delivery which Rohit wanted to smack over cover for a boundary but failed to get the necessary elevation as the fielder grabbed it comfortably, hence sending back the Indian for a two-ball duck.
Rohit’s forgettable outing in the middle was the 15th such instance when the Mumbai right-hander was dismissed for nought, putting him at par with Kohli. Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar leads the chart with 20 dismissals on duck.
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This was Rohit’s first ever dismissal for duck since July 14 last year against England. This is also the first time Rohit incurred such a dismissal since becoming the full-time ODI captain last year.
On Tuesday, Rohit became the second fastest among 15 to reach 10,000 ODI runs. He reached the landmark in 241 innings, 46 more than Kohli and 18 quicker than Sachin Tendulkar.
Earlier on Friday, Bangladesh got to a healthy 265 for 8 after Rohit won the toss and invited Shakib-Al Hasan to bat at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The new ball pair of Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur, who were brought back for the game, provided India a sensational start, removing the top three inside the first six overs before three dropped catches allowed Bangladesh to capitalize. Shakib top-scored for the side slamming 80 off 85 deliveries while Towhid Hridoy contributed with a calculative 54 to rescue the side from a faulty start.
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