In an exciting showdown at The Oval in London on Wednesday, June 7, India and Australia commenced the highly anticipated World Test Championship 2023 Finale with a bang. After winning the toss, India opted to field first, taking into account the prevailing pitch conditions. In light of this, Ravichandran Ashwin was left out of the playing XI, and the team chose to proceed with four seam bowlers.
India made an exceptional start to the pinnacle clash as Mohammed Shami opened the proceedings with a maiden over, followed by Mohammed Siraj replicating the same feat, conceding no runs in his initial over. It was Siraj who made the crucial breakthrough in his second over, dismissing Australian opener Usman Khawaja for a scoreless ten-ball innings.
Subsequently, the Australian batsmen managed to stabilize their innings through a resilient partnership between David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne, accumulating 69 runs for the second wicket. Both teams exhibited a spirited fight, with India utilizing the review system twice to contest the umpire’s decisions. In the 18th over, Labuschagne struck a boundary off Shardul Thakur’s third delivery, but Thakur came remarkably close to dismissing the batsman on the very next ball.
While India’s review turned out to be unsuccessful, it was skipper Rohit Sharma’s unconventional manner of signaling for the Decision Review System (DRS) that caught the attention of everyone.
Rohit displayed a distinctive gesture while indicating the ‘T’ signal, opting for the DRS without directly approaching the on-field umpire. A video capturing this moment quickly went viral, showcasing Rohit executing the DRS signal behind his back, without even facing the umpire.