Rohit Sharma retired hurt: The stand-in Indian captain was recalled to the pavilion after him crossing the 50-run mark.
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During the seventh warm-up match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 between India and Australia in Dubai, India captain Rohit Sharma put on display an assured innings in a 153-run chase.
Opening the batting with Lokesh Rahul (39), the pair put together a responsible 68-run partnership before Rahul mis-hit an Ashton Agar delivery to David Warner at long-off.
It was in the second over that Sharma scored a couple of boundaries off Australia spearhead Pat Cummins to get going. Sharma, who scored another boundary in Cummins’ second over, then played a second fiddle to Rahul especially in the powerplay.
It was then in the 12th over that Sharma hit a six and a four off Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh to up the ante in the middle over. Facing another all-rounder in Glenn Maxwell in the following over, Sharma scored another six with a stamp of authority on it.
Rohit Sharma retired hurt vs Australia
With India nearing a comfortable victory, Sharma pulled Cummins for another six at the ICC Cricket Academy Ground before retiring out after scoring 60 (41) with the help of five fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 146.34.
Warming up with a
Runs: 6⃣0⃣
Balls: 4⃣1⃣
Fours: 5⃣
Sixes: 3⃣#OneFamily #INDvAUS #T20WorldCup @ImRo45 @BCCI pic.twitter.com/N96SMcWbJS— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 20, 2021
As was the case with wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan in the first warm-up match against England, the Indian team management decided to call Sharma back to the pavilion in a bid to give an opportunity to Hardik Pandya with 26 more runs to win in five overs. Sharma, by any means, isn’t injured.
What is retired out in cricket?
Irrespective of the format, this strategy of recalling an in-form batter back to the pavilion in a warm-up match is a common practice used in cricket. Since warm-up matches are played to test the bench strength, try out different combinations and provide more chances, it was pretty obvious of the team management to recall Sharma after him scoring a half-century.
A batter is said to have “retired hurt” in cricket when he returns back to the pavilion due to an injury or any other reason. In Sharma’s case today, he didn’t leave the ground as “retired hurt” but was “retired out” meaning that he walked out voluntarily and wouldn’t return to bat even if required.
