ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma shrugs off injury scare as India beat Ireland in opener

Indian captain Rohit Sharma dismissed talks of being injured after he retired hurt in India’s opening fixture of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 against Ireland in New York.

Rohit Sharma scored 52 off just 37 balls when he was hit on the upper arm by a rising delivery from Josh Little. The incident happened in the ninth over of India’s chase of 97, in what can be termed as difficult batting conditions.

India did overcome Ireland by eight wickets but there was a lot of brouhaha about how the pitch has behaved in the last two matches.

The Indian captain dismissed any fears of being injured and said the pitch ‘did not settle down’. “Just a little sore. (It is a) new ground, new venue and we wanted to see what it is like to play on. I don’t think the pitch settled down, there was enough there for the bowlers,” he said.

India shot Ireland out for a paltry 96, with Arshdeep Singh striking twice in the third over to open the floodgates. Hardik Pandya took three wickets, including two in two, while Jasprit Bumrah returned with figures of 2/6 as Ireland looked all at sea.

Gareth Delany played some shots in his quickfire 26 off 14 balls as he was the last man out as Ireland couldn’t cross the 100-run mark.

The Ireland bowlers needed to be on cue but their fielding was a let down. Rohit gave a chance in the last ball of the first over but Andrew Balbirnie couldn’t hold on to a regulation catch at second slip.

Rohit went on to score a half century that included four fours and three sixes. He shared a 54-run stand with Rishabh Pant, who was slotted in at number three for the need of a left-hander at the top order after Virat Kohli opened the innings with Rohit.

Pant scored an unbeaten 36 and ended the match with a typically flamboyant reverse-scooped six off Barry McCarthy as India won with more than seven overs left.