Bengaluru: The dramatic third T20I between India and Afghanistan had a defining moment when captain Rohit Sharma astonishingly retired out in the first super over, and walked out to bat again in the second super over.
The clause 22 of Appendix F in playing conditions for Men’s T20Is, as per the International Cricket Council (ICC), says, “Any batsman dismissed in any previous Super Over shall be ineligible to bat in any subsequent Super Over.”
It hasn’t come to the light if Rohit had retired out or was retired hurt. In the first super overs, Rohit hit two sixes, before astonishingly coming to the dugout to have Rinku Singh do the running on the last ball, with the initial assessment being that India put out a quicker runner between the wickets. Rohit then came out to bat in the second super over, making 11 runs before being run-out.
Speaking to broadcasters after the match ended, India head coach Rahul Dravid equated Rohit retiring himself out to Ravichandran Ashwin retiring out in an IPL match in 2022. “Taking himself out was Ashwin-level thinking. That’s Ash-level thinking.”
Clause 25.4.2 of the ICC playing conditions for men’s T20Is further says, “If a batsman retires because of illness, injury or any other unavoidable cause, that batsman is entitled to resume his innings. If for any reason this does not happen, that batsman is to be recorded as ‘Retired – not out’.”
Clause 25.4.3 says, “If a batsman retires for any reason other than as in clause 25.4.2, the innings of that batsman may be resumed only with the consent of the opposing captain.”
In the post-match press conference, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said the visitors’ weren’t give a clarity on Rohit’s mode of dismissal in record books. “I have no idea. Has there ever been two Super Overs? That’s what I am trying to say. It’s sort of like a new… we keep setting these new sort of rules. What I am trying to say is we kept testing the rules, we kept testing the guidelines.”
Trott chose to spoke about Afghanistan wanting Azmatullah Omarzai, who bowled the first Super Over, to bowl in the second one too. But with the playing conditions saying, “any bowler who bowled in the previous Super Over shall be ineligible to bowl in the subsequent Super Over.”
It meant Afghanistan gave the ball to Fareed Ahmad instead. “It was not communicated. We wanted Azmat to bowl the second over again, Fareed bowled a great over. But those sort of things will be explained. Because it has happened, these things will be explained and done in writing in the future. If those are the rules, that’s great. I just think we had a good game, and I don’t think that should be the talking point.”
(IANS)
