Putting an end to all the speculations, Indian captain Rohit Sharma confirmed on Wednesday morning that Shubman Gill, who is currently in-form, will be taking the place of struggling opener KL Rahul for the second opener position in the upcoming third Test.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 has reached Indore, where the hosts are eager to extend their dominance and aim for a 3-0 lead, securing their spot in the World Test Championship finale. Meanwhile, the Australian team, led by Steve Smith, will be focused on making a comeback as they are currently without Pat Cummins.
At the Holkar Stadium, Rohit won the toss and elected to bat first. Along with Gill replacing Rahul, there is another alteration to the hosts’ lineup as Umesh Yadav has been included, and Mohammad Shami has been given a break for this match.
On the very first ball of the match, The decision for caught behind is immediately appealed by the Australian team composed of Starc, Carey, and Smith. After a brief discussion, they choose not to review the decision. Rohit may have been fortunate as the ball was a good length one angled across and he made a tentative poke, resulting in the ball being extremely close to the outside edge.
Umpire Menon didn’t detect any noise, so UltraEdge technology will be required to determine the exact occurrence. A spike is detected on the UltraEdge, causing disappointment for Australia, as evidenced by the expression on Andrew Mcdonald’s face in the dressing room.
There is yet another appeal on 4th ball, this time for LBW. Starc produces an inswinging delivery, eluding Rohit’s inside edge. Rohit tries to defend by leaning forward but ends up getting split in half by the ball. It brushes against his back pad before being caught by Carey, but the height of the impact is questionable. Smith consults with the fielder at point and chooses not to challenge the decision with a review.
What an eventful first over it has been! Rohit had two close calls, with the ball-tracking for the LBW appeal indicating that he was out (at 0.4). The tracking showed three reds, implying that Australia had missed two opportunities to dismiss him. Only time will tell how costly these missed opportunities will be for the Australian team.
