Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma didn’t enjoy a very happy 36th birthday on Sunday as he was dismissed for just 3 against Rajasthan Royals in a IPL 2023 match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, his team managed to make it a memorable occasion for their skipper, chasing down 213-run target with six wickets and three balls to spare to move up to 7th place in IPL 2023 Points Table.
Rohit was dismissed for just 3, doubled by RR pacer Sandeep Sharma in the 2nd over of their chase. Controversy erupted on social media with video of Rohit’s dismissal going viral on social media. Fans on Twitter started speculating that RR skipper and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson’s gloves had clipped the bails instead of the ball.
WATCH Rohit Sharma’s dismissal against Rajasthan Royals here…
pic.twitter.com/HK8exouJe9
— Prasanta Ghosh (@Pprasanta007) May 1, 2023
However, another user posted a picture of the dismissal from the side angle which showed that Sanju Samson’s gloves were far away from the stumps when the ball clipped the bails. Also MI skipper Rohit Sharma chose not to review the dismissal nor did the umpire refer the dismissal to the third umpire.
Meanwhile, MI fought back from Rohit’s early loss with Suryakumar Yadav leading the way with a brilliant 55 off 29 balls while all-rounder Cameron Green also scored 44 off 26 balls with the bat. However, the finishing touches were provided by Tim David, who smashed 45 off just 14 balls – with 5 sixes and 2 fours, including a hat-trick of sixes in the final over.
Sanju Samson later said that the special innings from Tim David turned the match on its head. “At the timeout, we were thinking that with the way Sky (Surya) was going, we were thinking of fighting it out and we were almost there. But Tim David did something special,” Samson said at the post-match presentation.
The Royals skipper added that even in loss, the team was setting high standards in all departments of the game. “It was kind of wet (outfield because of the dew), not that wet, we were expecting it but had the experience to deal with it. The way we’ve been playing, with the last nine games ending with us winning or coming close, illustrates the high standards at which we’ve been playing. Jaiswal ended up on the wrong side but very happy for him personally,” Samson added.
David and Suryakumar’s knocks trumped a brilliant maiden IPL century by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 124 off 62 balls – the highest score in IPL 2023 so far.
