A video of India captain Rohit Sharma slapping pacer Mohammed Siraj has gone viral on social media.
The duo appears to be engaged in friendly banter in the dugout during India’s opening T20I match against New Zealand.
It was Rohit Sharma’s first match as a full-time skipper.
In the video, Rohit Sharma can be seen tapping Siraj on the back of his head in the dugout as the duo sat along with KL Rahul.
The three were staring at something on their left before Rahul turned his head to Rohit Sharma, who quickly hit the paceman sitting in front of him.
Siraj was seen smiling at that, indicating at perhaps a funny joke between them.
The match and India’s win
India chased down the target of 165 with 5 wickets and two balls to spare, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
While India were cruising at one stage with Suryakumar Yadav’s fifty, after his dismissal Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant couldn’t time their shots properly as the game went deep. With 9 needed off 6 balls, Venkatesh Iyer swatted a four but got out before Pant finished things off with a boundary.
Rohit Sharma highlighted that it was an important learning curve for the batters in a run-chase, while also applauding the bowlers who pulled things back after fifties from Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman.
“Towards the end we saw it wasn’t easy, was a great learning for the guys because those guys haven’t batted in that situation before for India. It was great learning for them to understand what needs to be done, it’s not about power-hitting all the time and you try and put the ball to the left or right of the fielder and try and take singles or find boundaries,” Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation.
“As a team we are happy that those guys got to bat in that situation and finished the game off. Technically was a good game, missing a few players and to come and see what the new players have in terms of ability and I think the way we pulled it back in the last 3-4 overs was magnificent. In the end it was a great effort from all our bowlers,” he added.
The second T20I is scheduled for Friday at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.