Rohit Sharma's astonishing double dose of luck in crazy first over of Indore Test
Rohit Sharma only made 12 runs in India's first dig of the third Test, but he shouldn't be feeling sorry for himself.
India's captain threw his wicket away when he danced down the pitch and tried to heave a Matthew Kuhnemann delivery through the leg side, only to play all around the ball as Alex Carey whipped off the bails.
The dangerous opener was also gifted two lives in the first over of the Indore match.
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Australia recovered from a shambolic first over of the third Test, which saw Rohit Sharma receive a remarkable double dose of luck. AP
Playing his first Test since the Boxing Day match against South Africa, Mitchell Starc sent down a magnificent delivery with the new rock.
Sharma hung his bat outside off and, as the ball zipped through to Carey, the Australians went up.
Umpire Niton Menon was unmoved and, after gathering for a mini conference, the Australians didn't review.
Ultra-Edge showed a spike on Sharma's outside edge.
"An absolutely horrendous start for Australia," Matthew Hayden said in commentary.
Sharma received another dose of luck on the fourth ball of the first over, after a Starc delivery squeezed between the veteran's inside edge and front leg.
The umpire shook his head as the Australians appealed and, after another brief meeting, the tourists opted against challenging.
Ball-tracking revealed the ball had brushed Sharma's back leg, before three red lights flashed on the screen.
"Maybe they are a bit gun-shy in the first over," Hayden said of the umpires.
Rohit Sharma was dismissed when he danced down the wicket and was stumped. Getty Images
The remarkable start to the Test continued as the Indians crumbled on a controversial pitch.
The hosts were rolled for 109 just after lunch as Australia's three frontline spinners — Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Kuhnemann — put the ball in the right areas and capitalised on the dicey wicket.
Two sure signs of a Test pitch being unacceptable are balls keeping low and spurting off in odd directions in the first session of a match — and that's what happened on Wednesday.
"That was mayhem," Mark Waugh said on the Fox Cricket broadcast during the lunch break.
"The pitch is probably not up to Test standard. I think it's fair to say that.
"That's not good enough.
"You need luck, no matter how good a player of spin you are."
Fox Cricket's Brendon Julian labelled the pitch "terrible" and blasted the ground staff.
"They have not prepared that properly."
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