Rohit Sharma’s debut as Test captain outside of India in the World Test Championship final at The Oval against Australia hasn’t been a memorable one. Despite winning the toss and opting to field first, India’s hopes of claiming the title outright are diminishing as Australia reached a formidable score of 388/6 during the first session of Day 2.
However, amidst this challenging situation, Rohit managed to bring laughter to spectators worldwide with a mischievous gesture. The incident unfolded in the 97th over of Australia’s innings when Mohammed Shami made consecutive LBW appeals to dismiss Alex Carey.
The Australian wicket-keeper was convincingly beaten both times, leaving little chance for the umpire to raise his finger. Ultimately, the umpire ruled the deliveries not out, believing they would have missed the leg stump, a decision that Rohit concurred with.
Here comes the amusing part at The Oval. In a span of 15 seconds, it appeared that Rohit was signaling for the Decision Review System (DRS). However, upon reviewing the replay, it became clear that he hadn’t executed the signal correctly, as he didn’t touch both hands to challenge the decision.
Initially, the umpire momentarily thought the Indian captain had indeed signaled for the DRS, but soon realized that Rohit had playfully made the gesture to create a light-hearted moment on the field. A few seconds later, Rohit was seen sharing the anecdote with Ravindra Jadeja, explaining how he momentarily fooled the umpires with his cheeky act.
