BGT 2023 | Twitter in splits as Iyer whimpers to safety at silly-point to defy Rohit's push to stand closer

03/09/2023

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A leather ball, a wooden bat, two projectile bails and three sticks as stumps -- cricket has all the ingredients for inflicting serious pain. Shreyas Iyer thus exercised caution on Thursday by moving away in his position at short-leg despite the skipper physically pushing him closer to the stumps.

India fought their way back into the fourth and final Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy on Thursday after being on the back foot for the first two sessions of the day in Ahmedabad. The Men in Blue snared two quick wickets after Tea to place the visitors under pressure on what had proven to be a comfortable batting track, epitomised by Usman Khawaja who was unbeaten on 88 at the time of writing. The hosts dismissed the dangerous-looking Smith for 38 with the runs column on the team scorecard reading 153 and used the opportunity to make matters intense for the batters on the crease, especially the incoming Peter Handscomb.

Skipper Rohit Sharma instantly served an aggressive field setup to the designated spin-specialist batter for Australia, including a silly point and a slip. In the 68th over, the ball was in the hands of Jadeja with Iyer positioned close to the stumps and the fielder whipped the first ball at the stumps after Handscomb gently blocked it away. However, instead of receiving accolades for turning up the heat, Iyer encountered perhaps the strangest-looking incident in cricket for quite some time. Rohit Sharma walked up to the 28-year-old and held his waist from behind to manoeuvre him into position, placing him right at the edge of the pitch and staring directly into Handscomb's eyes.

However, as soon as Rohit walked away, the fielder quickly shuffled away a couple of steps to return to his original position, clearly afraid of being injured despite wearing a helmet and pads for protection. The sequence of events sent the commentators and Twitterati into splits while also bringing a wry smile on Bharat's face. A constant back and forth between the keeper, skipper, and Iyer thus continued throughout the over as the trio attempted to figure out the ideal silly-point fielding position for the latter.

Rohit turns into teacher

— MAHARAJ JI (@MAHARAJ96620593)

Fast

Virat Short Leg Mai Slips Jada Furtila Lag Raha Hai.. Another Example Of GOAT Captaincy From My GOAT Rohit Sir🔥🔥
— 🚩45_Rohit❤👎 (@45_rohit2)

Comedy

Tooter comedy kings trolling Rohit Sharma for being unfit
— chiku (@va_nshbaba)

Pefect

Rohit Sharma fans ,now
— lavi sharma🗨️ (@lavisharma_)

Not a great sight

Rohit Sharma is holding his shoulder... keep an eye on that
— Amit (@nottheamit)

Yup, I know

Anybody knows what Happened next 😁🔥??

Courtesy: Shami Ishan kishan, KS Bharat, Steve Smith, 4th Test, India & Australia
— Sachin Viratian🇮🇳 (@asmylemalhotra1)

lol

Rohit sharma today -
— Vaibhavi (@justvaibhavi)

Legends

3 Indian Legends in one frame 🐐
— ZARA (@ZaraVKgirl)

Shami delivers

Two times in this inning Rohit has brought Shami into the attack..

And, Shami has delivered both times..

Well done, Captain.👏
— Harsh Roy (@harshroy45)

The goats