On Day 2 of the first Test match between India and England being played in Chennai, India skipper Virat Kohli handed the ball to Rohit Sharma just before tea. However, that’s not the talking point! What set social media abuzz was when Rohit emulated veteran India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh’s bowling action. Rohit did this while bowling the final ball of the over before tea. It was a full-toss that England captain Joe Root converted into a single.
Rohit chipped in with two overs of off-spin. Apart from his teammates, Rohit’s mimicry of Harbhajan cracked up many others watching the match on television. Here’s what Twitterati wrote as Rohit pulled off a Harbhajan:
The official Twitter handle of Mumbai Indians, the IPL franchise that Rohit is captain of, wrote, “@ImRo45 does a @harbhajan_singh on the last ball before Tea (sic)”
During the over, Rohit also responded to Rishabh Pant’s instructions from behind the stumps with a funny,“Theek hai, sir.” Throughout the day, Pant has been trying to keep the spirit of the Indian players high as the bowlers found it tough against a top-quality England batting line-up on a flat wicket. The visitors found themselves in the driver’s seat yet again, for the second day in succession.
Joe Root carried on the scintillating form that he’s been in since the tour of Sri Lanka last month, scoring a double hundred as England made Indian bowlers toil. Root was finally dismissed for 218 off 377 balls. By then, the England captain had spent more than four sessions on the crease. This was Root’s fifth double hundred and third as England captain. In the process, Root also became the first batsman in the history of cricket to score a double century in his 100th Test. He also became the first since Don Bradman to hit three 150-plus scores in successive Test matches.
The visitors ended Day 2 at 555 for 8. After play on Day 1, Root had said that England would aim for a total of around 600 or 700. They aren’t too behind, with Root leading the charge with his fine form.
230/10(47.1) RR 4.88
378/10(119.2) RR 3.1790/3(22.5) RR 3.94
