In the third India-Australia T20I, in Hyderabad, Cameron Green came out to bat with one purpose only: slog, or attempt to slog every ball he faces. And it wouldn’t be wrong to say that he aimed for the boundary on perhaps each of the 21 deliveries he faced.
And as you’d expect when a batter hoicks at every single delivery, he missed and mistimed a few – about half out-of-control shots – but the ones he connected – he connected spectacularly, playing a stunning innings that had jaws falling on the ground. The hits which met his bat went for 52 runs, 7 racing to the fence while 3 going over the fence and deep into the stands.
A strike rate of 247 – 52 runs in 21 balls – was just astonishing. What’s more astonishing – especially for the unversed – is that Cameron Green is not in Australia’s squad. (Although Aaron Finch, the Aussie skipper, who is horribly out of form in recent months, could make the sacrifice and drop himself to include the in-form lanky all-rounder in the squad and eleven.)
But that’s for another day; today, netizens went into a frenzy as Cameron Green started slogging right from the first ball of the match, not caring that Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the best current new ball bowled; not caring that Jasprit Bumrah is India’s best pacer; not caring that Axar Patel has picked 5 wickets in the last two matches at an economy of 5.
Green just strode out and looked to bludgeon every single delivery. In 4 overs, Australia were 56 and Green had scored 49 of them off only 18 balls; he brought up fifty off a single and recorded the fastest T20I half-century by any batter against India. Not bad for someone who isn’t in Australia’s T20 WC squad.
Harsha Bhogle praises Cameron Green in his special tweet
Renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle took to Twitter to express his amazement at Green’s innings in Hyderabad.
“This has been an astonishing display of hitting from Cameron Green. His height has made it really difficult to get the right length. No fear batting,” Harsha Bhogle tweeted.
This has been an astonishing display of hitting from Cameron Green. His height has made it really difficult to get the right length. No fear batting.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 25, 2022
Rohit Sharma won the toss in Hyderabad and, unsurprisingly, decided to bowl first. Aaron Finch, the Australian captain, also announced one change: Josh Inglis comes back in for Sean Abbott.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): Aaron Finch(c), Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Josh Inglis, Matthew Wade(w), Daniel Sams, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
