Watch: Skipper Rohit Sharma ‘slap’ Mohammed Siraj in first T20 against New Zealand, fans wonder WHY

Team India paceman Mohammed Siraj had an off day on the field in the first T20 against New Zealand in Jaipur on Wednesday (November 17). Siraj leaked 39 runs in his four overs and picked up the wicket of Rachin Ravindra as the Kiwis managed to post 164/6 after batting first. In India’s chase, Rohit Sharma was seen ‘slapping’ Siraj in the dug out.

India cruised to a five-wicket win with two balls to spare with skipper Rohit scoring 48 and Suryakumar Yadav chipping in with 62. But fans were left wondering why Siraj got ‘slapped’ by Rohit. The ‘slap’ though was done in a very playful manner by Rohit and there was nothing serious about it.

Watch the video of Rohit Sharma slapping Siraj here…

Why did Rohit hit Siraj#INDvNZ #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/EjqnUXts3v — Bhanu (@its_mebhanu) November 17, 2021

The incident reminded some of the infamous Harbhajan Singh’s slap on S. Sreesanth in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League back in 2008. That incident was much more serious that this one as Harbhajan copped big fine and suspension for that incident in Mohali.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma said that he and his Mumbai Indians’ teammate and key New Zealand pacer Trent Boult know each other’s weaknesses and strengths very well so it is always a good fight between the two.

“We (Boult and I) played a lot of cricket together and he knows my weakness and I know his strength, it’s a good fight between the two,” said Rohit at the post-match presentation.

Rohit was in great touch before getting out by Boult on a slower-ball bouncer. He tried to hit the slower bouncer too hard over the short fine-leg fielder but was not able to clear Rachin Ravindra who was stationed perfectly.

“When I captain him I always tell him to bluff, and that`s exactly what he did. He put the mid-wicket back and put the fine leg up and I knew he was going to bowl a bouncer and I was just trying to put it over the fielder but unfortunately there wasn`t much pace on the ball,” he said.