On Sunday, December 1, Rohit Sharma, the regular captain of the Test team, made his comeback during the warm-up match between Team India (IND) and the Prime Minister’s XI (PM’s XI) at Canberra’s Manuka Oval. The ‘Hitman’ was on paternity leave, hence he missed the first Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25) in Perth. As Jasprit Bumrah guided the Indian team to a historic 295-run victory, he joined the team midway through the match.
Indian supporters were anticipating the 37-year-old’s performance in his Sunday comeback match. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul started the batting after the foreigners bowled out the Jack Edward-led team for 240 in the 46-over-a-side match. Rohit dropped to the third position in the batting order. Charlie Anderson, a 19-year-old right-arm pacer, defeated him after he faced 11 balls and managed just three runs.
Rohit attempted to break the shackles with a thunderous shot after the young player bowled a back-of-length delivery outside off-stump. But all he could muster was an outside edge, which Oliver Davies pouched safely at first slip. The Mumbai hitter would have like to spend some time in the middle against the pink ball, so India’s decision to send Rohit at No. 4 backfired horribly. It is significant to remember that the Adelaide Oval will host the second Test match between Australia (AUS) and India (India) under a pink-ball format starting on Friday, December 6.
In the meantime, India easily chased down the 241-run goal in the warm-up match against the Prime Minister’s XI, winning by six wickets. India’s best batsman, Harshit Rana, concluded with figures of 4/44 in six overs. Sam Konstas helped the home team win the opening innings with a scorching century (107). In addition to Shubman Gill’s fluid half-century for India, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar all contributed significantly to the visitors’ victory.
Rohit Sharma’s batting difficulties persist.
In the home Test series against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma only managed 91 runs from six innings. After India was defeated 3-0 at home for the first time, the veteran player received a lot of criticism for his efforts.
Here’s how ‘X’ users reacted to Rohit Sharma’s dismal outing:
Rohit Sharma reminded the management that it is not right to change the winning combination💀 pic.twitter.com/WSafSJYTMC
— ر aya ن م i ر (@MirRayan18) December 1, 2024
Best batting performers for India in the Practice match:
Shubman Gill – 50(62)
Yashasvi Jaiswal – 45(59)
Nitish Kumar Reddy – 42(42)
Washington Sundar – 42(36)
Ravindra Jadeja – 27(31)
KL Rahul – 27(44) pic.twitter.com/0arQmhEFRe— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 1, 2024
Best batting performance for pm xi Rohit Sharma 3(11)
— RAHUL (@RAHUL115549) December 1, 2024
Best batting performers for India in the Practice match:
Shubman Gill – 50(62)
Yashasvi Jaiswal – 45(59)
Nitish Kumar Reddy – 42(42)
Washington Sundar – 42(36)
Ravindra Jadeja – 27(31)
KL Rahul – 27(44) pic.twitter.com/0arQmhEFRe— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 1, 2024
Poor performance by Rohit Sharma 💔
— 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐮𝐍𝐚𝐭i𝐨𝐧🐐👑 (@cheeku_nation) December 1, 2024
Usual performance by rohit sharma
— HUMMER (@AnuragNandi9) December 1, 2024
Rohit Sharma dismissed for 3 runs in the Practice match. pic.twitter.com/5og2ftfN6y
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 1, 2024
Bhai Rohit sharma PM XI mei bhi nhi chala yaar 😅
— Pranjal (@Pran297) December 1, 2024
The winning trophy for India. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/vcPXAKs9DU
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 1, 2024
Captain selfless Rohit Sharma got out so that bowler can get 1 wicket 🔥🔥
— Venom (@AnkitSi70755453) December 1, 2024
The winning trophy for India. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/vcPXAKs9DU
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 1, 2024
Rohit sharma be like
Eat Five star do nothing 😂— Moij Gugarman (@gugarman_moij) December 1, 2024
Virat Kohli is real selfless of cricket, He sacrifice his chance to young players to practice in his place,
While Rohit sharma, who’s we called him Selfless, he prefered playing himself instead of young player.
— 🇮🇳🐐 (@ProteinKohliii) December 1, 2024
if rohit sharma back in 2nd test as captain then result will be against India 1 to 3 as predicted by Australian
— Achyutananda Ray (@achyutanan65528) December 1, 2024
I don’t think Rohit Sharma will open in the second test match, Jaiswal and KL Rahul look good for the opening pair in the BGT series.
Rohit Sharma at 5th number in batting order is in a good position for team India.
— SujeetKr7482 (@Sujeet748251) December 1, 2024
• Sacrificed IPL Salary for Team.
• Sacrificed his Opening for KL Rahul.
• Sacrificed his Milestones for Team.India will never see a Selfless Captain like Rohit Sharma. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/vY8nR9bJeM
— Selfless⁴⁵ (@SelflessCricket) December 1, 2024
Itna jhooth performance ke karan iska decline huva hai kl Rahul deserve karta tha bahot pahle se opning me aur rohit to bgt khelne tak ke layak nhi hai abhi bumrah hi sahi captan hona chahiye Rohit Sharma career khatam hai ab msd se bada kaptan abhi tak koi ni aaya ind me
— the atheist ⚛️🇮🇳 (@cricketkno51353) December 1, 2024
Rohit Sharma reminded the management that it is not right to change the winning combination💀 pic.twitter.com/EY8i6OoWqW
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) December 1, 2024