India’s stand-in captain Rohit Sharma suffered from a calf-injury and walked off the field while batting during the fifth and final T20I against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.
The batsman suffered from an injury during the 17th over of the match and needed attention from the physio. Even as he got up and smacked the very next ball for a six, Rohit seemed in discomfort and eventually decided to walk off. He was batting on 60 off 41 deliveries.
KL Rahul came out to lead the Men in Blue in the second innings.
Earlier, Rohit, who was rested for the fourth T20I, came back in the playing XI in place of regular skipper Virat Kohli. Sanju Samson continued to open the innings for India. However, the Kerala batsman could score only two runs.
Rohit came to bat at No. 3 and, along with KL Rahul, stabilized the Indian innings after the early blow. However, the side’s run-rate dipped after Rohit’s departure as both, Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dube struggled with their timing.
While Iyer remained not out on 33 off 31 deliveries, Manish Pandey’s cameo (11 off 4 balls) led India to a competitive total of 163/3 in 20 overs.