India’s journey in the Asia Cup has almost come to an end after suffering a six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka at Dubai International Stadium. They were unable to contain the Sri Lankan batters for the major part of the innings, and conceded 174 in 19.5 overs. 

Just like the game against Pakistan, India managed to stretch the game till the last over, but only to see the opponents overhauling the target with a ball to spare. Arshdeep Singh was once again asked to bowl the ultimate over, where he had just seven runs to defend, and his first four yorkers yielded just five runs. But a run-out opportunity missed by Rishabh Pant helped the Sri Lankan batters to steal two runs and ensure a win.

In the same over, the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was seen turning his back on Arshdeep when he was giving some inputs. The video has been doing the rounds on the internet, with many people criticizing Rohit for not paying heed to the young fast bowler.

One fan wrote, “So Rude by Rohit Sharma. This attitude of Captain over team players won’t do any good for Team India. Feeling sad for Arshdeep. His last over was superb!”.

Another wrote, “Rohit Sharma wasn’t the HIT man in his initial days. He also had the worst time and mistakes. But he was never treated like this by his captain. This is crazy. A youngster doesn’t deserve this type of treatment from his captain.”

However, many also pointed out the misleading nature of this eight-second clip, shared on social media without proper context. Rohit, however, heaped praise on Arshdeep for maintaining his composure in crunch moments of the game. 

“Honestly, guys here don’t look too much into social media these days. We don’t look much into a few losses or a dropped catch. He (Arshdeep)was himself disappointed because it was a catch that could’ve been taken,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.”

With the second consecutive defeat in the Super 4, India is now at the mercy of other teams to qualify for the final. They’ll hope for Afghanistan’s triumph over Pakistan, and will also have to win the final game.

Lead Image: BCCI/Twitter