Australian batter Steve Smith replaced Pat Cummins as the captain of the Australian side in the third test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. Smith didn’t start off well as the captain as his bizarre captaincy gave two lifelines to Rohit Sharma in 1st over of 3rd IND vs AUS Test.
Rohit Sharma gets two lifelines as Steve Smith decides against using DRS twice
Australian pacer Mitchell Starc made a comeback in third India vs Australia test after missing out on first two tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to an injury and straightaway created some impact in the game. Starc created a wicket-taking opportunity twice but didn’t get support from his skipper Steve Smith.
Starc made Rohit Sharma edge his first delivery of the first over of Team India’s innings. The faint edge travelled to wicketkeeper Alex Carey who along with closing fielders made a loud appeal but the on-field umpire Nitin Menon ruled it in the favor of Indian batter.
Mitchell Starc along with Alex Carey and Steve Smith discussed together and eventually decided against taking the DRS. After couple of minutes, a clear spike was shown on the UltraEdge as the Australian team management regretted not taking the review.
On the fourth delivery of the same over, Starc brought the ball sharply back into the right-handed batter. Rohit missed the line of the delivery as it brushed his back pad and traveled to wicketkeeper Alex Carey. The Aussie fielders again made a huge appeal but Nitin Menon dismissed their calls. Smith yet again decided not to go for the DRS as it looked pretty high with the naked eyes.
In the next over, it showed three reds on the giant screen which made it pretty clear that Steve Smith’s bizarre captaincy gave two lifelines to Rohit Sharma in first over of third India vs Australia test. Here’s the video.
— Rahul Chauhan (@ImRahulCSK11) March 1, 2023
However, these blunders didn’t cost Australia much as Rohit Sharma was eventually dismissed by left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann as Rohit looked to play a down-the-ground shot and got deceived by the turn and flight and got stumped at a score of just 12 as Alex Carrey comfortably took the bails off.
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The spin trio of Kuhnemann, Lyon and Murphy shattered the Indian batting lineup in the first session of the third test in Indore as the Men in Blue were placed at a score of 84-7 at the lunch break.