Cricket

Watch: In the third Twenty20 International against Afghanistan, Rohit Sharma stuns fans and commentators with a switch-hit six.

By - 19 Jan 2024 02:24 AM

In the third Twenty20 International match in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma struck a record-breaking fifth century to lead his side to a hard-fought victory over Afghanistan. With 11 fours and eight enormous sixes in his knock, the veteran batter produced a trademark innings that displayed the entirety of his explosive batting ability. One of the shots that left both fans and commentators stunned was a switch-hit six off the bowling of Sharafuddin Ashraf. During the 12th over of the match, Rohit pulled off a spectacular switch off the spinner's bowling to send the ball flying into the stands over deep backward point.

Following the game, Rohit revealed to JioCinema the technique behind his shot.

"I've spent a lot of time practicing that shot. In situations where the ball is spinning and you are unable to hit the ball straight, you must play these shots in order to exert pressure on the bowler. At that point, you need to give something new a try. For the past two years, I have been honing my sweep and reverse sweep techniques," Rohit remarked.

"I performed the shot a few times during Test cricket matches. It should be up to you how you use the options that are available to you. I decided it would be better to play with the spin rather than hitting it straight because the ball was spinning and gripping," he continued.After the hosts fell to 22-4 in Bengaluru, the captain of India became the first batsman to hit five T20 international tons with an undefeated 121 off 69 balls.

Gulbadin Naib, however, led Afghanistan to 212-6 after hitting an unbeaten 55 off 23 balls. He then took two off the last delivery to tie the score.

Reminiscent of the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand in the 50-over format, the Super Over was also tied after Afghanistan reached 16 and India scored the same.A rule change resulted from the fact that the final at the Lord's ended level even after the Super Over, with England winning the trophy on a higher number of boundaries

In the second Super Over, Rohit scored every run off the first three balls, as India won 11-2. To win the match, Indian spinner Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets and gave up just one run.