Rohit Sharma avoided getting dismissed on a duck in the third consecutive game against Afghanistan as India suffered a disastrous start in Bengaluru on Wednesday. India lost four wickets in five overs after choosing to bat first in the third and last T20I in search of big shots.
Indian captain managed to get off the mark on the very first delivery of Fareed Ahmad as the ball took a thick edge off his bat down the leg side. But umpire Jitender Sharma ruled it out as leg byes which Rohit failed to notice. The fifth ball of the first over also found a thick edge off the thigh pad for a four without making any contact with a bat.
After the first over, Rohit checked the score and found himself without a score in five balls. Rohit was not happy with the umpire's decision to rule the first four for leg byes and was heard asking Virender Sharma for confirmation and later pointing out his two ducks in the series.
"Arey Viru, pehle wala Thigh pad Diya tha kya? Itna bada bat laga hai. Ek toh idhar 2 zero ho gaya hain (Virender, was the first four was given leg byes? Delivery took a thick edge as I already have two ducks in this series)," Rohit was heard saying to umpire Virender Sharma.
Meanwhile, India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli on back-to-back deliveries in the third over off Fareed Ahmad. In-form Shivam Dube also walked out after scoring just one run while Sanju Samson suffered a golden duck. India were struggling at 22 for 4 after five overs of play with Rohit and Rinku Singh in the middle.
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan
Afghanistan Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Fareed Ahmad Malik