A humorous banter occurred between Nathan Lyon and KL Rahul during India's first innings of the fourth Test in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. Nathan Lyon's comment regarding KL Rahul's batting position was put on the mic after skipper Rohit Sharma failed to open the match.
Rohit Sharma struggled with the bat during the second day of the fourth Test in Melbourne on Friday, December 27. The right-handed batsman scored just three runs off five balls before he was dismissed by Australian skipper Pat Cummins. This failure came despite Rohit returning to his usual role as opener.
“What did you do wrong to hit someone?” – Nathan Lyon to KL Rahul
KL Rahul was moved from his opening spot for the Boxing Day Test as Rohit returned to his original position. Rahul played a key role in India's win in the first Test in Perth and their clash at The Gabba. However, the Indian team made changes to the lineup due to Rohit's struggles in the middle order.
As the new batsman prepared for the encounter, Nathan Lyon asked him why he was batting at number three despite having a good series as an opener. Lyon's remark regarding KL Rahul's batting position was picked up on the microphone.
“What did you do wrong to hit one?”, Leon’s remark was picked up on the microphone.
Take a look at the brief interaction here:
Was the change in #TeamIndiaIs the beating order justified? Sanjay Manjrekar shares his thoughts! 🗣#AUSvINDOnStar 👉 Fourth test, second day | Live now! | #The toughest competition #BorderGavaskarTrophy pic.twitter.com/zvfQ04QlhA
– Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 27, 2024
– Hisense (@sharmaho45) December 27, 2024
KL Rahul batted at number three for the first time in his first Test match during the 2014 Boxing Day Test against Australia. He has since batted in that position just twice, most recently appearing at number three in the 2018 Test against England at Edgbaston.
Rohit Sharma has not been proactive and is struggling – MSK Prasad
Former India selector MSK Prasad criticized captain Rohit Sharma during the ongoing Boxing Day Test against Australia. He stated that the captain directly affects the team's performance. Prasad also compared Rohit with previous captains like Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, who led from the front in Australia.
“Captainship has a direct impact on the team's performance. Unfortunately, Rohit was not proactive and struggled. “When Sam Konstas was setting all the guns on fire, he stuck with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj for 11 overs instead of turning to someone else,” MSK said. Prasad on Star Sports during commentary (via CricToday).
“His batting has been ordinary since the Test series against New Zealand, and he landed in Australia without any form under his belt. If you look at the last two series we won in Australia, Virat Kohli led from the front in the first over. When Coming out of the 36th match in Adelaide in the last series, Ajinkya Rahane revived the team with a brilliant hundred at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.”
India opted to select an unorthodox team for the fourth Test, leaving batsman Shubman Gill. However, they included three all-rounders in the line-up, two of whom were spinners.
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