World Cup 2023 final: 'Rohit Sharma gifted his wicket,' say cricket fans as India in spot of bother after loss of 3 wickets

Indian men's cricket captain Rohit Sharma faced flak from cricket fans for 'gifting' his wicket in the World Cup 2023 final against Australia at Ahmedabad on Sunday. Put in to bat by Pat Cummins, India was cruising along despite early loss of Shubman Gill. 

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were repairing the innings until the latter decided to take the aerial route against Glenn Maxwell only to mistime the shot and Travis Head took a brilliant catch. Rohit Sharma scored a swashbuckling 47 off 31 balls with four fours and three sixes to his name.

Soon after, Shreyas Iyer, who was in a good nick until the semi-final against New Zealand, perished to the probing line and length of Pat Cummins. 

At the end of 16 overs on Sunday, India was placed at 101 for the loss of three wickets with Kohli at a run-a-ball 34 and Rahul at a cautious 10 off 22 balls at the crease.

During the entire World Cup 2023, Sharma has been hailed for his quick knocks that would take the pressure off Virat Kohli and allow him to play a longer innings. However, cricket fans said Sharma should have exercised restraint on Sunday considering Gill had perished early.

One netizen pointed out that Hardik Pandya's importance will be felt on Sunday. "Hardik's importance can be understood now. We have Suryakumar Yadav next who we can't trust much. If anyone in Kohli and Rahul gets out early, we are in big trouble. Big pressure will be on Kohli and Rahul currently," said an X user.