Rohit Sharma scored an incredible fifty against Ireland to kick off India’s T20 World Cup campaign. Since then, he’s scored 16 runs in two matches. Against Pakistan, he was outsmarted by Shaheen Afridi, one of the best T20 bowlers in the world. Against the USA, he was dismissed by part-time cricketer Saurabh Netravalkar.
Netravalkar is an engineer by trade and has been representing the USA since 2019. But that’s not even the most interesting fact about him. The left arm went to school with Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube. As luck would have it, Rohit Sharma also went to the school.
Playing alongside Surya, the pacer dreamt of representing India. However, that couldn’t come true. He represented the Men in Blue in the U19 World Cup but couldn’t make inroads when it came to playing for the national side. Now, years later, not only has he reunited with many of his former teammates, but he has even dismissed one of the best batters in the world, Rohit Sharma.
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Rohit Sharma’s struggle against left-arm pacers
This has been a recurring theme for Rohit. This isn’t the first time he’s been dismissed by a left-arm pacer, especially in the powerplay. In the past, Mohammed Amir, Trent Boult, and Shaheen Afridi have dismissed the opener. In the ongoing T20 World Cup, two of three dismissals have come against left-arm pacers. In the India vs Pakistan match, it was Shaheen Afridi, and in the India vs USA match, it’s Saurabh Netravalkar.
Rohit Sharma vs left-arm pacers in T20Is
| Balls | Runs | Out | Avg | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 439 | 580 | 23 | 25.21 | 132.11 |
