Rohit Sharma's Bowled Blues: Hitman gets bowled 'thrice in a row' for the first time in his Test career

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Indian captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a nine-ball duck on Day 1 of the second Test match against New Zealand in Pune. Tim Southee exposed Rohit's frailties by shattering his stumps, which sent the entire crowd into melancholy.

After this dismissal, Rohit Sharma registered an unwanted record as he was bowled three times in succession in Test cricket, for the first time in his venture. For a player of his calibre, being bowled three times on the trot is indeed a huge setback and could be a wake-up call for him.

The senior pro has been dismissed in this manner in three consecutive innings of the ongoing Test series against the Kiwis. Tim Southee got rid of him twice whereas Ajaz Patel dismissed him once.

Rohit Sharma's bowled dismissal in Bengaluru Test

During the first Test in Bengaluru, Rohit Sharma faced an uphill task of negotiating Tim Southee’s skillful swing bowling. The veteran fell prey to Tim Southee's beautifully executed wobble-seam delivery. The ball pitched on a good length and jagged back just enough to breach the Indian captain's defence. The ball went on to beat his willow before hitting the stumps as Rohit was dismissed for just two runs.

If being bowled in the first innings was a conventional dismissal, his second-innings' dismissal was anything but a strange one. Rohit, who faced New Zealand’s slow left-arm orthodox spinner, Ajaz Patel, leaned forward to defend a length ball that was pitched on the off-stump line.

While he appeared to have played a solid forward defensive shot, the ball somehow trickled off the inside edge, almost in slow motion before rolling onto the stumps. The sight of the ball gently dislodging the bails left everyone stunned including Rohit himself, who could only watch in disbelief. The Nagpur-born didn't have enough time to kick the ball away from the stumps.

Rohit Sharma's bowled blues

Coming to the second Test in Pune, Tim Southee was the architect of Rohit's dismissal. In the first innings, Rohit faced a peach of a delivery that was pitched on a good length around middle and off-stump. The ball moved away off the seam, squaring Rohit up in his defence.

While the seasoned cricketer looked to defend from the crease but was caught by the late movement, which took the ball past his outside edge and then it clipped the top of off stump in the wake of a slight deflection off his back pad. The skipper was dismissed for a duck, which left the Indian team and fans in stunned silence. This dismissal also marked Rohit Sharma's third bowled dismissal, for the first time in his Test career.