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After India were put to bat first by West Indies in 2nd ODI on Wednesday, the pressure was on the home side to put up a competitive total on board. However, things did not go as expected for Men in Blue as the visitors completely dominated the first hour of play in Ahmedabad.
India experimented with their batting order as Rishabh Pant walked out to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma. However, the move did not reap benefits as both the openers were dismissed early in the innings before Virat Kohli was also sent back to the pavilion.
India were reeling at 43/3 in 12 overs and this is when KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav notched up a crucial partnership. India's vice-captain, who had missed the 1st ODI, returned to the side and surprisingly batted at No. 4, possibly to address the team's middle-order woes in recent times.
Rahul, who has impressed in limited opportunities batting down, once again stepped up for his side. After a cautious start, the right-handed batsman got a second life when he was dropped by wicket-keeper Shai Hope off the bowling of Kemar Roach. And this is when he unleashed himself!
He started to play more freely and got India right back into the contest with his counter-attacking approach. However, just when he was nearing a well-made half-century, a bizarre sequence of events unfolded.
On the 4th delivery of 30th over, Rahul punched the ball towards the off-side and it looked like he would reach his 50 by taking a quick double. But just when he was returning to complete the two runs, he stopped, possibly because of a misunderstanding with his batting partner Suryakumar Yadav.
As a result of his brief stoppage, the possibly of making his way back to the striker's end was lost and although Rahul tried to complete the run, it was too late. The ball had gone towards the left-side of Akeal Hosein, and since it's his throwing arm, the 28-year-old fired in a bullet throw to run out KL, who was left strangled on 49 (off 48 balls).
Watch the video here:
As Rahul was walking back to pavilion, he was even seen holding his back as he seemed to have got a slight injury during the mix-up. Fans would certainly wish that India's vice-captain is fit for the next match, hoping that he might not have done any serious damage to himself.