Explained : Why Rohit Sharma was allowed to bat in second Super Over after ‘retired out’ during 3rd T20I against Afghanistan?

One of the rare sights in cricket was witnessed during the 3rd T20I match between India and Afghanistan as the teams played two Super Overs. The teams met for the 3rd match of the Afghanistan tour of India at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 17 January 2024. 

A huge controversy broke through in the second super over as Rohit Sharma walked to bat once again in the second super over after being retired hurt in the first super over making way for Rinku Singh on the field. Notably, the Afghanistan players argued with the umpire if Rinku Singh could play in place of Rohit Sharma considering he can run faster. The umpire informed the squad that since Rohit wasn’t dismissed and was retired hurt he could bat once again.

Jonathan Trott on two super overs against India in the third T20 

After the game, the Afghanistan cricket team’s head coach Jonathan Trott talked about the chaos on the field. He discussed how the Cricket Council keep changing rules and it gets difficult to keep track, he also tried to recall how there have not been many games where two super-overs have been conducted. 

Trott discussed, “I have no idea. Has there ever been two Super Overs? That’s what I am trying to say. It’s sort of like a new… we keep setting these new sort of rules. What I am trying to say is we kept testing the rules, we kept testing the guidelines.” 

“It was not communicated. We wanted Azmat to bowl the second over again, Fareed bowled a great over. But those sort of things will be explained… because it has happened, these things will be explained and done in writing in the future. If those are the rules, that’s great. I just think we had a good game, and I don’t think that should be the talking point,” he added.