Rohit Sharma drives on left and gets out on right in the Ranji Trophy game in Mumbai Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty
Rohit Sharma Office workers in Mumbai’s upscale business hub, the Bandra-Kurla Complex, decided to take a brief detour a few minutes after ten o’clock.
The balconies of the skyscrapers encircling the stadium housed those who were unable to bunk work.
For Mumbai’s cricket tragics, this was another chance to watch Rohit Sharma.
This was another opportunity for Mumbai’s cricket tragedy to watch Rohit Sharma. After being bowled out for 120 in the first innings, Mumbai took the final three wickets of J&K on the morning of Day 2 in only 24 minutes, bowling them out for 206. Now, it was up to India’s opening duo of Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who are doing the same for their Ranji Trophy squad, to erase the 86-run first-innings deficit and spearhead Mumbai’s comeback.
But once again, like in the first innings on Thursday, the Ranji returnees dug their team into a deeper hole
However, the Ranji returnees put their side in a worse situation once more, much like in Thursday’s opening innings. Rohit, who was in the middle for just 28 minutes on Day 1, lived dangerously for 70 minutes before getting caught out for 28. Yashasvi followed him back to the pavilion after batting for 82 minutes for 26. The only bright spot was that their stay was a little longer. Even though they had eliminated J&K’s lead by lunchtime, Mumbai had lost half of their batters in the process, falling from 54 for 0 to 57 for 3.
Struggling for runs, Rohit tried to hit his way out of the drought but not before a couple of early scares
After a few early scares, Rohit, who was struggling for runs, attempted to hit his way out of the slump. Auqib Nabi beat the India captain’s outside edge off the first ball he faced. Later, when he was on one, Rohit hit a straight back to Umar Nazir, but the pacer was unable to hold onto the ball because he stuck out his right hand on the follow-through. It appeared that Nazir and J&K would be held accountable for the missed catch. Rohit sent the ball hurtling over the deep backward square fence in the same over with one of his signature pull shots. The ball found the space between the gully and the slip for a boundary after the next caught his edge. In response, Rohit moved out of the crease, created space, and played a four-run uppish square cut.
