Ever since he has taken over as captain, the one trait of Rohit Sharma that has emerged to the fore more than anything else are his expressions on the field. The India captain is a range of emotions every time the camera pans to him. Virat Kohli too was box-office when it came to reacting while captaining the side, but with Rohit it seems as if he has a different way of responding to every situation – be in expressing his displeasure towards an umpire or the very rare playful banter with Dinesh Karthik.
The India vs South Africa 2nd T20I was another contest where Rohit was at his animated self. Even as South Africa fell short of India’s target, David Miller and Quinton de Kock went berserk in an attempt to get the team over the line and level the series. With 63 needed off two overs, the ever-do-dreadful over from India’s perspective, the 19th was handed to Arshdeep Singh. The left-arm quick did not begin the penultimate over of the match on the greatest of notes as he overstepped on the first ball. He made sure that South Africa managed only a single off the free-hit but conceded a six the next ball.
With tension mounting, Arshdeep followed Miller the next ball. With Miller walking across and trying to scoop the ball, Arshdeep went outside off, resulting in the umpire declaring it a wide. But as soon as Virender Sharma stretched his arms, a visibly unimpressed Rohit rushed towards him and tried to reason with the official. Rohit and Sharma were seen pointing towards the striker’s end, debating where the ball had pitched but everything resolved quickly as the umpire was seen patting the India captain on his shoulders before both broke into laughter.
This wasn’t the first time that Rohit and umpire Sharma did not see eye-to-eye on a decision. Earlier in the match, Rohit was not pleased with the umpire as Sharma declared a wide. In fact, Rohit was rather furious with the decision, and even mockingly signalled for a DRS. The Ultra Edge too showed that there was absolutely no connection between the bat and ball and Rohit tried to glance it down to fine leg.