India lost an ODI series at home for the first time in four years on Wednesday (March 22), defeating Australia by 21 runs in Chennai. India needed 270 to win, but they only managed 248 before being eliminated.
Because they thought the pitch would get slower as the game went on, Australia decided to bat first. The crucial 66 runs the tail added from 203-7 proved to be the difference between the two teams.
The Men in Blue made a strong start to their chase, but in the middle overs, they lost wickets frequently. As India’s chase fell apart under pressure, Australian spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa each took six wickets.
In light of this, let’s take a look at three instances from the Chennai ODI that stood out to fans on social media:
3 Captain Rohit Sharma’s contradictory responses to Kuldeep Yadav’s DRS appeal
Captain Rohit Sharma has delivered hilarious moments on the field, particularly with his antics and open expressions. In the third one-day international, when Kuldeep Yadav trapped Alex Carey, he pleaded for a DRS review.
The ball did not appear to have missed Carey’s pads outside the off-stump in real time either. However, Rohit went to the review, smiling even though he was aware that the decision would not be made.
Out of nowhere, Rohit appeared to be a piece irate at Kuldeep and charged towards him to say something. Twitter users were divided over the Indian captain’s range of emotions and created a number of memes based on it.
2 The soft dismissal of Virat Kohli
The former captain of India, in Ashton Agar’s final over proved to be a significant turning point in the game, which began with Kohli’s dismissal. The former Indian captain put up a strong fifty and appeared poised to lead his team to victory.
Nonetheless, a snapshot of unfortunate shot determination cost Kohli his wicket and carried the guests into the game. Kohli attempted to bowl Agar inside out, but he was only able to hit the bowler directly in the throat at long on. Given the context and circumstances of the game, fans criticized Kohli’s shot selection.
1 Unwanted “golden” hat trick by Suryakumar Yadav
In Chennai, things got worse for Suryakumar Yadav, who became the first player in ODI history to score three golden ducks in a row. After receiving two sensational deliveries from Mitchell Starc upfront in the series, the right-hander appeared eager to get going against Ashton Agar when he batted seventh.
However, Yadav hung back rather than taking the lead because the left-arm spinner caused the ball to skid. His stumps appeared to be agitated after he missed the cut shot. Following his dismissal, the No. 1 T20I was devastated and nearly had to drag himself off the field. Ashton Agar’s double goal ensured that Australia had complete control of the game.