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Cricket Players'Not many captains...': Former Sri Lanka captain's reaction to Rohit withdrawing run-out appeal against Shanaka
Dasun Shanaka would have been run out on 96 had Rohit Sharma not revoked the appeal in the first ODI.
The first ODI may have ended in a rather staightforward win for India but there were a few dramatic scenes towards the end. Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka refused to stand down and went on to score a century in the last over of the match. However, he could very well have been walking back on 96 had India decided to hold up a run out appeal made by fast bowler Mohammed Shami against Shanaka.
The batters were kept down to one run off the third ball, leaving tail ender Kasun Rajitha on strike and Shanaka on 96. The batters were then prepared to run off the next ball but Shami decided to run Shanaka out at the non-striker's end before he sent in the delivery. There was some confusion for a few seconds but then captain Rohit Sharma came across and withdrew the appeal. Eventually, Shanaka managed to get to his century.
Rohit's decision to withdraw led to some polarised reactions. While there were a few who felt he shouldn't have done so as this was nothing more than a legitimate dismissal, there were also many who hailed Rohit for showing sportsmanship. This included former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews. “Not many captains would do this but hats off to @ImRo45 for withdrawing the appeal even though the law says so! Displaying great sportsmanship,” said Mathews on Twitter.
When asked about the incident in the post-match presentation ceremony, Indian captain Rohit lauded his Sri Lankan counterpart for playing a valiant knock."I had no idea Shami had done that. When he went up in an appeal. Again, he (Shanaka) is batting on 98. The way he batted was brilliant. We got to give it to him. We cannot get him out like that. We wanted to get him out the way we thought we would get him out. But that was not something that we thought of. But again, hats off to him, he played really well," Rohit told Murali Kartik after India's win over Sri Lanka.
