Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma rested himself in team’s last match of Asia Cup 2022 vs Afghanistan on Thursday night (September 8). At the toss, it was KL Rahul who came to attend it from India camp. Informing about the change of captaincy in this match, KL Rahul said that Rohit wanted rest as playing back to back matches in hot conditions of UAE could be taxing on the body. “Rohit wants to take a break, playing back-to-back is not easy in these conditions. Yuzi (Chahal), Rohit and Hardik miss out. Chahar, Karthik and Axar come in,” said Rahul at the toss.
When the Indian fans came to know that Rohit is not playing, they lashed out on the captain, saying that if he cannot play matches for India in an important tournament like Asia Cup then what is the need of him playing at all. Some fans also said that Rohit and other Indian players do not feel the fatigue and tiredness when they are playing in IPL, which is a two-month long tournament but they get burntout playing the international matches.
Check out the reactions of the angry Indian fans here.
IPLVEER Plays all games in ipl back to back but can’t play all games for India __ #RohitSharma #INDvsAFG @mohsinaliisb @vikrantgupta73 @cricketaakash #AppleEvent
— The Penman __ (@hemant__yadav) September 8, 2022
Why is he rested? what was the need? Idk what the man is upto
— N. (@ItsNidhi5) September 8, 2022
Biggest joke is we expected #KLRahul will be dropped from team today but he’s captaining today _______
What else you need to proof that #RahulDravid and #RohitSharma jokers#INDvsAFG
— Prasad (@itsme_PRASADG) September 8, 2022
So Rohit Sharma not playing today, I reckon he has left early for the airport to get a window seat. ___#INDvsAFG
— Taha __| Kirkut Experts Stan | (@taha_tj30) September 8, 2022
As I said, rest is all they need during international matches. During IPL there is no affect of heat, humidity etc. This time it’s #RohitSharma https://t.co/RyUdBKsryb pic.twitter.com/sqBJ8FqiEy
— Chandan __ (@CKSahay_) September 8, 2022
Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said that his team took sleeping pills to sleep early last night as they were playing a game the next day. Afghanistan are playing matches on back to back days due to the tight scheduling of the tournament.
“We left the stadium immediately and went to the hotel last night. Had some green tea and took a few sleeping pills, it was a tough night. We have played well in the tournament, we could have won the last two games. We will try our best to play some good cricket,” said Nabi at the toss after electing to bowl first.
Toss has played a big role in this tournament with the team winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. Chasing in UAE has always been an easy task as has been shown in this tournament as well.