Watch: Rohit Sharma's animated message to dugout after KL Rahul signals change of bat during IND vs AUS T20 WC warm-up

Rohit Sharma may not have contributed much with the bat during India's first warm-up match of the T20 World Cup 2022 against Australia but the captain was at his animated best while batting with KL Rahul in Brisbane.

Rohit Sharma may not have contributed much with the bat during India's first warm-up match of the T20 World Cup 2022 against Australia but the captain was at his animated best while batting with KL Rahul in Brisbane. Rohit was merely a spectator as Rahul got off to a flying start. In fact, when Rahul reached his half-century and India 56/0 after the first five overs, Rohit had faced just five balls and was batting on 1. Such was KL's dominance inside the Powerplay for India.

KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma (Screengrab)

After Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to field, in the fourth over, Rahul took Marcus Stoinis on, smashing the all-rounder for 20 off the over, including 4, 6, 4, 4. However, during the over, Rahul seemed to have damaged his bat as he tried to hoick Stoinis through the leg-side. Rahul pointed towards the change room, signalling for a change of bat, but apparently his message was not received clearly. Rohit, who walked up to Rahul, then took matters into his own hands and waved at the dugout. Rohit then shouted 'Aaja, Aaja…' (Come, Come), after which Mohammed Shami ran out with a couple of bats.

Rahul underwent another change of bat shortly thereafter when he was hit on the helmet by a Pat Cummins bouncer. As per the mandatory precaution, Rahul had a concussion check, after which he again picked from a selection of bat. All the bats worked rather well for Rahul as he blasted his way to 57 off 33 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes. He reached his half-century off just 27 balls.

Rohit, surprisingly, remained low-key at the other end, scoring 15 off 14 balls. Rohit, who hardly got strike in the first six overs, got off the mark in the mark in the first ball of the fifth. Next over, he smacked Glenn Maxwell for a six and a four but had to depart shortly when he miscued a hit off Ashton Agar and was out caught at long-on.

India eventually posted 186/7 in 20 overs, which proved to be a match-winning total as they beat Australia by six runs. The Aussie batting put on a forgettable show with the bat, with only captain Aaron Finch top scoring with 76. Only four of Australia's 11 batters could enter double digits as the Indian bowlers tightened the screws. Rohit saved a huge surprise for last as he brought on Mohammed Shami to bowl the final over, and 32-year-old pacer, who was not included in India's Playing XI and hasn't featured in a single T20I match since last year's World Cup, produced an over for the ages. He picked three wickets and affected a run out to bowl Australia out for 180.