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Rohit Sharma’s deputy Shubman Gill thus handled captaincy responsibilities for the first time in an ICC tournament for the duration the former was off the field.
Explained: Why Rohit Sharma Walked Off Field During Marquee India vs Pakistan Clash (Picture credit: AFP)
India skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday, February 22, walked off the Dubai International Stadium during the marquee Pakistan clash after feeling uncomfortable in the sweltering heat, according to a report in PTI.
Rohit’s deputy Shubman Gill thus handled captaincy responsibilities for the first time in an ICC tournament for the duration the former was off the field.
Dubai is currently at 32 degrees Celsius, with humidity at 41%. The commentators also mentioned on air that the heat was much more on Sunday than it was on Thursday, during India’s match against Bangladesh.
Rohit eventually returned to the field after a while.
The temperature in Dubai is expected to fall to around 27 degrees in the evening, as the weather turns cloudy and warm, during India’s batting.
Earlier, Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and elected to bat against India in their marquee Champions Trophy game in Dubai.
India, who won their opening game against Bangladesh, went in with an unchanged team. For Pakistan, Imam ul Haq replaced Fakhar Zaman, who was ruled out of the Champions Trophy because of an injury.
Pakistan made an unsteady start to reach 79/2 after 20 overs in the big game.
Skipper Rizwan (13) and Saud Shakeel (20) were batting after Hardik Pandya dismissed Babar Azam for 23 and Imam ul Haq fell short of the crease by an Axar Patel throw, departing for 10 runs.
India suffered a small scare when pacer Mohammed Shami had to go out of the field for about 20 minutes for treatment, for a shin problem. But he returned to the field and bowled after the 11th over.
The ongoing game is a do-or-die encounter for Pakistan, who lost their opening game to New Zealand by 60 runs and a loss in the India match will mean they will fail to defend the Champions Trophy, which they won in 2017 by thrashing India.
India, on the other hand, are coming on the back of a six-wicket win against Bangladesh and a victory over arch-rivals Pakistan will mean that they will qualify for the semifinals of the tournament, which they won back in 2013 under MS Dhoni’s leadership in England, beating the hosts.