Super Over Controversy: Was Rohit Sharma Retired Hurt or Retired Out?

India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, delivered an outstanding performance in the third T20I of the series against Afghanistan, held on Wednesday. Rohit’s exceptional unbeaten innings of 121 runs set the stage for a thrilling match that ultimately went into two Super Overs. Despite the accolades he received on social media for his stellar performance, a decision he made during the first Super Over sparked a significant debate.

In the first Super Over, with India needing 2 runs to win from the final ball, Rohit chose to walk out, allowing Rinku Singh to replace him at the non-striker’s end. However, there was ambiguity about whether Rohit retired hurt or retired out.

Rohit returned to the pitch for the second Super Over after Jaiswal failed to score 2 runs off the final ball, leading to another tie. This raised questions about Rohit’s eligibility to bat again.

According to the ICC’s playing conditions for men’s T20Is, “Any batsman dismissed in any previous Super Over shall be ineligible to bat in any subsequent Super Over.”

The controversy emerged because the umpires did not provide clarity on whether Rohit retired hurt or retired out. If Rohit was ‘retired hurt,’ he would be considered “retired not out” and eligible to bat again. However, if he was ‘retired out,’ he wouldn’t be eligible to come out for a second time.

During the post-match presentation ceremony, Rohit expressed his overwhelming feelings about batting three times in the match. “I don’t remember when was the last time this happened. I think I batted 3 times in one of the IPL games,” he mentioned.