BGT 2023 | Twitter amused as Pujara and Gill roll their arms before skippers agree to dull draw

BGT 2023 | Twitter amused as Pujara and Gill roll their arms before skippers agree to dull draw

SportsCafe Desk

By SportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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The inevitable draw between India and Australia became official on Monday as Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma shook hands an hour ahead of the scheduled Stumps. While the day was largely dull in terms of competitive action, fans got their share of amusement with some unusual bowling choices by India.

India sealed a 2-1 victory in the Border Gavaskar Trophy on Sunday after the fourth and final Test ended in a bland draw at Motera. Australia began the day at 3/0  rafter having conceded first innings lead of 91 runs and toiled through 72 hours on the hot and sultry day to post a score of 175/2 before skippers of both the teams agreed to call it even given the little possibility of a result.

Tailender Matthew Kuhnemann, who opened the innings the previous evening as a night watchman for the injured Usman Khawaja, fell victim to Ravichandran Ashwin early in the day after being caught plumb in front of the stumps. Thereon, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne took control with a partnership of 139 runs as both registered their respective half-centuries. The South Australian opener looked on course for his sixth career Test century on the flat deck but was eventually undone on 90 by an Axar Patel corker. The left-arm spinner pitched a ball at good length on the fifth stump, tempting Head into a booming drive, only for the SG to spin sharply and decimate the batter's off-stump. Incidentally, the dismissal was Axar Patel's 50th in Tests, making him the fastest Indian to the feat in terms of the number of balls bowled, edging out Jasprit Bumrah by over 200 deliveries.

The incoming Steve Smith appeared an epitome of solidity as usual and faced 59 balls for his 10 runs, stroking two boundaries in the process. His 22-run unbeaten partnership with Labuschagne encountered hilarity late in the day when the Men in Blue skipper Rohit handed the ball to Shubman Gill for the first time in the specialist batter's career. After the opener kept the duo to just one run in his over with some off-spinners, Cheteshwar Pujara added to the spectators' amusement by taking the red cherry in his hand next. The Saurashtra-born cricketer became the first to bowl leg-spin in the game and had enthusiastic support in the dugout from his Ranji skipper Jaydev Unadkat who excitedly clapped after each delivery.

The umpires eventually decided to take the bails off well over an hour before the scheduled Stumps at 4:30, thus making India's series win official. However, the two sides are scheduled to face each other again the next time they don the white overalls, in the World Test Championship final at The Oval on June 7.

Just enjoy the moment!

LOL

He just couldn't believe

Loved it

Amazing

New spinner in town

He was loving it

Cheteshwar - Warne

LOL

Just enjoy

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