Amid all the action in Rajkot during the third and final India vs Australia One-Day International (ODI) on Wednesday, Australia batting lynchpins Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, and veteran India batter Virat Kohli had a little moment of fun. Cricketers often need to brave the sweltering heat while playing, and different players find different ways to do that. Smith found his own fun one. (Scorecard | Streaming | Asian Games Live | Cricket News)
Steve Smith, who scored 74 runs off 61 balls, was visibly dehydrated during the innings amid the fierce Rajkot heat. And hence, he decided to tackle it by asking for a chair and sitting down between overs to rest and hydrate. It made for a novel, funny view and Virat Kohli, ever the jester, chose to add to it. Kohli walked up to Smith's partner Marnus Labuschagne and gesticulated to him animatedly. Kohli, as is his wont, also threw in a little jig in a bid to entertain all the players and fans at the stadium.
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On air, renowned India commentator Harsha Bhogle said: "How often do you see that on the cricket ground? There is a chair that's come out. It's a long time since I have seen a chair out on a cricket ground."
"I remember the good old days when you used to have tea breaks, and someone would bring out the tea and cakes, and everyone would sit down and have a cup of tea," Bhogle added.
Australia scored a mammoth 352 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their stipulated 50 overs the first innings, thanks to stellar knocks by Mitchell Marsh, Smith and Labuschagne. All three of them scored half centuries, and Marsh fell just four short of a hundred as the Indian bowlers were made to toil in the unforgiving conditions.
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The match, however, is a dead rubber as India have already clinched the three-match ODI series after winning the first two games. India rested key players like Virat and Rohit Sharma in the first two ODIs but are playing a full-strength team for the final game, in the lead-up to the 2023 ODI World Cup, which begins on October 5.
