Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team kickstarted their preparations for the ODI World Cup 2023 on a positive note by handing a 67-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first ODI match of the ongoing 3-match series. While former captain Virat Kohli stole the show with his stunning century, that helped India post a huge total of 373 runs on the scoreboard, the opening pair of Rohit (83) and Shubman Gill (70) also played key roles in the huge total as they added 143 runs.
Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals during their innings and never seemed to be in form. However, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka stood out. He has been receiving praise for his unbeaten century. While he turned out to be the star performer for his side but he couldn’t produce the desired results.
But Shanaka could have missed out on breaching the century. During the final over of Sri Lanka’s chase, Mohammed Shami ran out of Shanaka at the non-striker’s end. For the unversed, Shanaka was trying to take undue advantage by leaving the crease early and Shami grabbed the opportunity. However, Rohit decided to withdraw the appeal.
Later, while speaking at the presentation ceremony, Rohit revealed the reason behind withdrawing the appeal and said: “I had no idea Shami did that (run-out), he was batting on 98. The way he batted was brilliant, we cannot get him out like that. Not something that we thought off, hats off to him, he played really well.“
Rohit Sharma’s heart-winning gesture has earned him praises from all corners. Even former Sri Lanka captains Sanath Jayasuriya and Angelo Matthews have also reserved some big praises for the Indian captain.
Legend Sanath Jayasuriya took to his Twitter and hailed Rohit Sharma for his sportsmanship with a special post and called him the real winner. He wrote: “The real winner was the sportsmanship of Rohit Sharma for refusing to take the run out. I doff my cap to you!”
The real winner was the sportsmanship of Rohit Sharma for refusing to take the run out. I doff my cap to you ! https://t.co/KhMV5n50Ob
— Sanath Jayasuriya (@Sanath07) January 10, 2023
Angelo Matthews also took to his twitter and praised Rohit for displaying great sportsmanship. He claimed that not many captains would do what Rohit did. He wrote: “Not many captains would do this but hats off to @ImRo45 for withdrawing the appeal even though the law says so! Displaying great sportsmanship,”
Check out the Tweet:
Not many captains would do this but hats off to @ImRo45 for withdrawing the appeal even though the law says so! Displaying great sportsmanship 👏 pic.twitter.com/Dm2U3TAoc9
— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) January 10, 2023
