'It was Ash-level thinking' - Rahul Dravid on Rohit Sharma's 'retired out' call during Super Over

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid spoke about Rohit Sharma's Super Over call during the third and final T20I against Afghanistan at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on January 17. Dravid praised Rohit's decision to call Rinku Singh for the final ball of the first Super Over, stating it as 'Ravichandran Ashwin-level thinking'.

When India needed two runs from one ball to win, Rohit called third batter Rinku to get an extra run. Notably, Ashwin did the same during the 2022 Indian Premier League clash between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants.

“It was Ash-level thinking. Taking himself out was Ash-level thinking,” Dravid was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Everyone was perplexed "Was Rohit Sharma retired hurt or retired out?" Afghanistan head coach, Jonathan Trott also not certain about what is the reason for Rohit's call during the Super Over. 

“I have no idea (whether Rohit retired hurt or out). Has there ever been two Super Overs? That's what I am trying to say. We keep setting these new rules. What I am trying to say is we kept testing the rules, we kept testing the guidelines,” said Trott in the post-match press conference.

Rohit further faced critical remarks after he walked out again along with Rinku in the second Super Over. Notably, under laws when a batter was retired out, he could not bat again if there was a need for another Super Over. However, a match official later clarified that the batter can bat if the opposition captain or coach won't raise any objection.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Trott expressed his dismay stating that the rule about the use of bowlers in Super Overs was also not communicated appropriately. He stated that they wanted Azmatullah Omarzai to bowl in the second Super Over but he could not bowl since bowled the first.

“It was not communicated (the rule). We wanted Azmat to bowl the second over again, but Fareed (Ahmad) bowled a great over. But these things will be explained and done in writing in the future. If those are the rules, that's great. I just think we had a good game, and I don't think that (rules) should be the talking point,” the Afghan coach added.