Rohit Sharma Confronts Marnus Labuschagne Over Pitch Violations; Gavaskar Questions Umpires' Inaction

14 hours ago | 5 Views

Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground turned into a fiery showdown between India and Australia during the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The drama kicked off with a clash between Virat Kohli and rookie Sam Konstas right in the middle of the pitch early in the day.

Even after things seemed to settle down a bit, the intense rivalry kept both teams on edge as they fought for an early lead in the Melbourne Test.

Rohit Sharma wasn't happy with Marnus Labuschagne for consistently running on the pitch's 'danger area.' The cameras caught Rohit making his feelings known to Australia’s number three batter. In a clip of the incident, Labuschagne hits a shot and runs down the middle, prompting Kohli to react from the slips and point it out before Rohit stepped in to address Labuschagne and the umpires.

Rohit is spotted gesturing towards the center of the pitch while chatting with Labuschagne, likely cautioning the Aussie batter about stepping down the pitch too much.

Sunil Gavaskar's response

Batters and bowlers aren’t allowed to walk on the center of the cut strip, and umpires are responsible for making sure it stays intact. Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan, who were commentating in Hindi for Star Sports, noticed this and weren’t too happy about it.

Pathan remarked, “That’s the umpire’s responsibility,” to which Gavaskar replied, “And the umpires are just sitting there. They’re more focused on the chat between Rohit Sharma and Labuschagne than actually doing their job.”

Gavaskar also mentioned that debutant Konstas had done the same during his innings. Mohammed Siraj had given him a hard time about it when Konstas stepped down the pitch to play a shot but kept going straight instead of moving to the side, which is the usual practice.

As the first day of the Test wrapped up, Australia seemed a bit more content at 311/6, with Steven Smith still batting. Labuschagne reached a half-century before getting out while trying to chip a ball from Washington Sundar over mid-off, but Konstas was the standout performer, scoring a stylish 60 off 65 balls on his debut against the new ball.

HOW DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE? CHOOSE YOUR EMOTICON!