Rohit Sharma's exquisite pull shot for six hits young spectator in stands, play halted

Rohit Sharma-led Team India earned a 10-wicket victory over England on Tuesday in the 1st ODI of the three-match series at the Kennington Oval Stadium. While Jasprit Bumrah starred for India in the 1st innings with a six-wicket haul, skipper Rohit led the team from the front in the 2nd innings by playing an unbeaten half-century knock. While Rohit made headlines for hitting 76* runs in 58 balls, another incident during Rohit’s knock also became a talking point about the match. 

In the 5th over of India’s chase, Rohit hit a fabulous six through his trademark pull shot off David Willey’s bowling. After Rohit connected the ball in the middle of the bat, it flew towards the crowd in the fine leg direction. While the umpire signalled for a six, the ball hit the back of a young girl in the crowd, leading to the play being halted for a while. 

The father of the young spectator was spotted rubbing her back, due to the impact of the ball hitting her, as the visuals showed the man consoling her daughter. The commentators on-air, Ravi Shastri and Michael Atherton, confirmed that the ball indeed hit someone in the crowd. Speaking on the live broadcast, Atherton said, “It seems someone in the crowd may have gotten hit by this six from Rohit Sharma. Fingers crossed… nobody is hurt”. 

Watch the video of the incident:

At the same time, Shastri added, “Yes, looks that way. The way Rohit is looking towards that area, he might have got the message it's probably hit someone". Meanwhile, as the events unfolded, a couple of medics were also seen running along the boundary ropes, probably to check on the girl. Thankfully, the delay didn’t last for long, as both batters continued their pursuit of the target.

How did the fans react to the incident?

A picture of the young girl and her father after the incident is currently going viral on social media. As per the post, the girl that got hit is a 6-year-old kid named Meera Salvi. The tweet also revealed that the girl is currently fine. 

More about India vs England, 1st ODI-

Meanwhile, as the play continued after the incident, Rohit and Shikhar went on to add a 50-run stand for the first wicket, giving India a strong start. The pair then went on to remain unbeaten after helping the visitors to cruise to victory in the 19th over itself. While Rohit remained not out on 76* off 58, Dhawan hit 31* runs in 54 balls during his knock. 

Earlier in the first innings of the match, Bumrah’s 6/19 in 7.2 overs, helped India bowl out England on 110 runs. At the same time, Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna contributed with figures of 3/31 in 7 overs and 1/26 in 5 overs respectively. Both teams will now lock horns in the 2nd ODI on Thursday, at the iconic Lord’s Stadium.

(Image:  AP/@SoniGup46462554/Twitter)