Captain Rohit Sharma was nowhere to be seen during India's second warm-up tie against Western Australia at the WACA on Thursday. Rohit's no-show was all the more surprising given the India captain's name had been listed in the Playing XI. Instead, it was KL Rahul, who was named the official captain for the tie as India lost to WA by 36 runs. Chasing 169 to win, India finished on 133/7 in 20 overs with the batters putting in an average show. Despite the Indian batting crumbling against, Rohit did now show up, which left the fans irate.
What was more surprising to see was that Virat Kohli, who was once again rested and did not feature in the Playing XI along with Suryakumar Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, fielded for India. Every move Kohli made – while fielding at cover, point gully and near the boundary – drew huge cheers from the crowd. But while fans were over the moon to see their beloved Kohli basking in the Perth sun, they were disappointed with Rohit's absence. Here are some of the reactions.
Also Read: India vs Western Australia XI Highlights - IND lose by 36 runs, KL Rahul scores 74, Ashwin scalps 3
After winning the first warm-up, the result of the second tie comes as a bit of a shocker. More so considering the lack of effort shown by the batters. Rahul top-scored for India with 74 off 55 balls. He scored 39 runs off the first 39 balls before showing more intent and pick up 35 off the next 16. But barring Rahul, the remaining batters cut a sorry figure with Rishabh Pant falling for 9, Deepak Hooda for 6, Hardik Pandya for 17 and Dinesh Karthik for 10.
{{/usCountry}}After winning the first warm-up, the result of the second tie comes as a bit of a shocker. More so considering the lack of effort shown by the batters. Rahul top-scored for India with 74 off 55 balls. He scored 39 runs off the first 39 balls before showing more intent and pick up 35 off the next 16. But barring Rahul, the remaining batters cut a sorry figure with Rishabh Pant falling for 9, Deepak Hooda for 6, Hardik Pandya for 17 and Dinesh Karthik for 10.
{{/usCountry}}India however would take heart from the fact that Harshal Patel, who had been struggling for form, picked up 2/27, while R Ashwin grabbed 3/32, picking up all three wickets in one over. Arshdeep Singh kept things tight with figures of 1/25 whereas Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pandya and Hooda went wicketless. India still have a couple of more warm-up matches before opening their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan when they take on New Zealand and Australia on October 17 and 19 respectively.