Rohit Sharma reacts to drop catch that denied Axar Patel hat-trick, says ‘may take him for dinner’
Rohit Sharma dropped an extremely easy catch in the ninth over that denied the first-ever hat-trick for Axar Patel in his career. It would’ve been only the second hat-trick in the history of ICC Champions Trophy but it wasn’t to be as Rohit failed to latch on to an easy chance.
India defeated Bangladesh by six wickets to start their Champions Trophy campaign on a high in Dubai on Thursday (February 20). Shubman Gill slammed a century as India chased down 229 runs with more than three overs in hand. However, Bangladesh might not have reached 228 had Rohit Sharma latched on to an easy chance earlier in the innings that even denied Axar Patel a well-deserved hat-trick.
The incident happened in the ninth over of the innings when the left-arm spinner had dismissed Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim off consecutive deliveries. Jaker Ali came out to face him on the hat-trick ball and edged the ball to the first slip. But the Indian captain Rohit spilt an easy chance only to ram the hands into the turf angrily.
Jaker Ali ended up scoring 68 runs off 114 deliveries and stitched a record-breaking 154-run stand with centurion Towhid Hridoy propelling Bangladesh to a competitive total. Nevertheless, India won the match comfortably and as expected Rohit Sharma was asked about the drop catch after the match.
With a smile on his face, the India skipper said that he might take Axar for a dinner for denying him a chance to create history. The 37-year-old himself was disappointed admitting that he should’ve grabbed the catch. “I may take him (Axar) for dinner tomorrow. No, that was an easy catch, I should have taken that catch with the standards I have set for myself. But I do know these things are bound to happen. Credit to Hridoy and Jaker, they stitched a nice partnership,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
Axar finished with the figures of 2/43 in his nine overs as he kept the batters on the tenterhooks right through his spell. Mohammed Shami was the star with the ball picking up five wickets and also became the highest wicket-taker for India in ICC white-ball tournaments.
