"Choked in knockout once again" - Fans erupt as Rohit Sharma scores 15 in 1st innings for India in WTC 2023 final

India captain Rohit Sharma failed to deliver with the bat for Team India in the first innings of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Oval in London on Thursday, June 8.

Rohit returned with just 15 runs off 26 balls after India took to the crease in response to Australia's first-innings total of 469. The 36-year-old was declared leg before wicket to Australian captain Pat Cummins in the sixth over as India lost their opening wicket for 30 runs.

Rohit was coming off an underwhelming batting performance for Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2023. He amassed 332 runs in 16 games, featuring just two half-centuries, in the latest season of the cash-rich league.

Fans on Twitter were disappointed with Rohit Sharma’s failure in India’s first innings after Australia piled up 469 runs. One tweeted:

"Rohit Sharma choked in knockout once again...guess my surprise."

Here are some of the other Twitter reactions:

Rohit Sharma has failed to score big in the last few ICC knockout matches for Team India.

The right-handed batter scored a duck against Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final. He then made just one run against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final.

Rohit returned with scores of 34 & 30 against the same team in the inaugural 2021 WTC final. He then scored 27 off 28 against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinals.

Interestingly, India lost all these aforementioned games.

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Travis Head and Steve Smith put Australia in the driving seat after Rohit Sharma opts to bowl

A clinical batting performance from Travis Head and Steve Smith helped Australia pile up 469 runs in the first innings of the WTC final.

Head scored 163 off 174 balls, including 25 boundaries and one six. Smith also added 121 off 268 balls, aided by 19 fours. Together, the duo shared a partnership of 285 runs for the fourth wicket.

Alex Carey, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne also chipped in with 48, 43, and 26 runs, respectively.

For India Mohammed Siraj starred with the ball, returning with figures of 4/108. Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur also scalped a couple of wickets apiece. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja took a solitary wicket.

At the time of writing, India were 37/2 at tea, with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara at the crease.

Click here to follow the WTC 2023 final scores.