The Indian captain Rohit Sharma had to leave the field in pain after being hit on the arm during the match against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Wednesday. (As It Happened | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
The incident happened during the 10th over of India's batting when the Men in Blue were chasing a modest target of 97 runs. Sharma completed his half-century with a boundary off the fifth delivery of Mark Adair's over and played a pull shot on the next ball in the mid-wicket region which landed safely.
The Umpires called for drinks after the over and Sharma felt some issue with his arm. He called the physios and checked with them. Earlier, he was hit on the same arm due to the uneven bounce from the pitch and that pain increased when he played the pull shot on the last delivery.
He immediately told the Umpires of being retired hurt and left the pitch with the physios. Suryakumar Yadav joined Rishabh Pant at the crease. Pant who came in at no. 3 and also suffered many blows on the body. He was hit on the body twice in the next over when Sharma left the field.
But Pant smashed the next delivery of Joshua Little for a six to wind up the things quickly. He took another bruise on the body as the first delivery of the 13th over from Barry McCarthy hit him on the arm again. However, Pant finished the match with a six on the next ball to end the suffering.
India chased down the target in 12.2 overs with eight wickets and 46 balls to spare. Rishabh Pant made 36 unbeaten off 26 balls. Rohit Sharma also made 52 runs off 37 balls before getting retired hurt.
The pitch in New York had many weird movements as some deliveries bounced a lot and few remained low. However, Sharma gave an update on his arm injury during the post-match presentation.
"Yeah, just a little sore (the arm). I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Not aware of what it is to play like on a pitch that's five months old. I don't think the wicket settled down even when we batted second", said Sharma.
India will be playing the arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue on Sunday, June 9 and the Indian captain is unsure of what to expect from the pitch for the highly-anticipated clash.
"I don't know what to expect from the pitch, to be honest. We will prepare as if the conditions are going to be like this (for the Pakistan game). This is going to be a kind of game where all XI of us will need to contribute", signed off Rohit.
