NEW DELHI: The question on everyone's mind during the third and final India-Afghanistan T20I was whether Rohit Sharma had retired hurt or was retired out. In the penultimate ball of the first Super Over, the Indian skipper walked back, leaving fans curious about the nature of his departure.
Rohit, who made a return to the T20I series after more than a year, faced challenges in the first two matches, being dismissed without troubling the scorers.
However, in the third T20I, he made a solid comeback and scored a remarkable 121* off 69 balls, propelling India to a total of 212 for 4 in 20 overs.
Afghanistan then matched India's score of 212, leading to a Super Over at the jam-packed M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
In the first Super Over, Afghanistan set a target of 16 runs.
Chasing 17 to win, Rohit, having scored 13 runs in the fifth delivery, was retired out. The Super Over concluded in a tie, prompting another Super Over.
1/10:3rd T20I: India outlast Afghanistan in second Super Over
AP
2/10:India beat Afghanistan
<p>India edged Afghanistan in a dramatic second Super Over to sweep the Twenty20 series after the third match ended in a tie following Rohit Sharma's record-setting century on Wednesday. </p>PTI
3/10:Rohit Sharma
<p>The India captain became the first batsman to hit five T20 international tons as his unbeaten 121 off 69 balls powered the hosts to 212-4 in Bengaluru after they had slipped to 22-4. </p>PTI
4/10:Rohit and Rinku
<p>Rohit, out for a duck in the opening two wins, struck 11 fours and eight sixes and put on 190 runs with Rinku Singh, who hit 69 not out off 39 balls. </p>TNN
5/10:5th T20I ton
<p>Rohit, who went past Glenn Maxwell and Suryakumar Yadav -- both with four T20 tons, rebuilt the innings and then tore into the opposition attack as he surpassed his previous T20 best of 118. </p>TNN
6/10:Raining sixes
<p>It was raining sixes in the final five overs when India plundered 103 runs. Rohit and Rinku smashed 36 off the final over, which included a six off a no-ball. </p>PTI
7/10:Fareed Ahmad Malik
<p>Left-arm quick Fareed Ahmad Malik returned figures of 3-20 and caused early damage with the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal (4), Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson, both removed for first-ball ducks. </p>PTI
8/10:The run chase
<p>Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran scored 50 each to put on 93 runs for the first wicket and set up the chase. </p>AP
9/10:Gulbadin Naib
<p>Afghanistan put up a spirited response as Gulbadin Naib hit an unbeaten 55 off 23 balls to steer his side to 212-6, taking two off the final delivery to level the scores. </p>PTI
10/10:Mohammad Nabi
<p>Mohammad Nabi smashed a quickfire 34 to keep his side in the hunt and Naib helped get 18 runs off the final over from fast bowler Mukesh Kumar to tie the match. </p>PTIRohit's return to bat in the second Super Over sparked a massive debate.
According to the rules, if a player is not declared out in the first Super Over, they are eligible to bat again.
So, how did Rohit manage to bat again in the second Super Over?
South Africa batting legend AB de Villiers clarified that one cannot bat again if declared out in the first Super Over. However, he emphasised that Rohit was retired hurt, permitting him to bat in the second Super Over.
"Double Super Over unbelievable (smiles). You can't bat again if you are declared out in the first super over. I think maybe they will claim that he was retired hurt due to an injury and maybe it was a scoring mistake to show him out," De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott hinted at minimal communication between officials and the players as the whole episode panned out.
“I have no idea (whether Rohit retired hurt or out). Has there ever been two Super Overs? That's what I am trying to say. We keep setting these new rules. What I am trying to say is we kept testing the rules, we kept testing the guidelines,” said Trott in the post-match press meet.
India went on to clinch the series 3-0.
