Rohit Sharma’s worst nightmares came true as he was dismissed for a second-ball duck on his first innings as a designated opener in red-ball cricket on day 3 of the three-day practice match between India’s Board President XI and South Africa at Vizianagaram on Saturday.
Rohit, who walked out to open the batting with Mayank Agarwal – this will be India’s opening pair in the first Test at Visakhapatnam on October 2 – was removed by Vernon Philander in the second over of Board President’s XI innings.
Rohit, who is also captaining the BP XI side, which is also the only practice match before the real deal begins on October, has been selected as a designated opener in Tests for the first time in his career. He replaced KL Rahul at the top after the Karnataka batsman’s inconsistent show with the bat.
Earlier, South Africa declared the innings at 279 for 6 after resuming the day at 199 for 5. Temba Bavuma gave a account of himself by scoring an unbeaten 87. All-rounder Vernon Philander scored a quickfire 48 off 49 balls before being dismissed left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja.
