Gautam Gambhir compares Rohit Sharma to Rolls-Royce; deletes the tweet later

Team India took a commanding position in the first Test match at Vishakhapatnam. The visitors are left with a mountain to climb on the final day after the hosts, riding on another swashbuckling hundred [115] by Rohit Sharma declared their second innings at 4-323. It was a day that belonged almost completely to Rohit Sharma.

From his record-breaking sixes to hilarious jibes [Read: “Puji bhag bh***d] and mimicry [Read: Harbhajan Singh]. It was a crucial inning not only for Sharma- the Test opener but also for his side considering the wider context of the game.

The day had started with Senuran Muthusamy [33] and Kagiso Rabada [15] frustrating the Indian bowlers. South Africa batted for over an hour and ensured that the hosts only had a cushion of 71 runs leading into their second innings. In reply, India lost Mayank Agarwal early for 7, bringing Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara together.

Gautam Gambhir congratulates Rohit on Twitter before deleting the original tweet

While Sharma was at his fluent best, Pujara- for the first 60-odd balls until that jibe happened- looked like he could not get the ball past the square and if not Quinton de Kock’s drop off Piedt, would have gone for another low score. India needed quick runs, considering the weather and Bad Light could play a huge role in the end.

It is at this point that Pujara broke through the shackles, matching Sharma shot-for-shot. Sharma took on the moniker of ‘The Hitman’, smoking Dane Piedt for three consecutive sixes. Sharma also became the first batsman ever to score 13 sixes in a single Test, breaking Wasim Akram’s 23-year-old record of 12, which the latter hit against Zimbabwe during his knock of 257.

And, so as usual, Twitter went bonkers! #RohitSharma, #Hitman began to trend all-over Twitter, with fans, pundits and even detractors going gaga over Rohit’s assault. One of the most vocal supporters of Sharma opening the batting in Tests, former Indian Test opener, Gautam Gambhir took to Twitter to congratulate the Hitman.

Gambhir went on to compare Rohit with Rolls-Royce, linking his back-to-back tons to One-Plus-One offer. He, however, went on to delete the tweet and replaced it with a simple congratulatory message that read: Take a bow Rohit Sharma, Eventually you are, where you belong to!

Here’s what Gambhir tweeted first:

 Here’s what he replaced it with:

Take a bow🙇‍♀️@ImRo45 Eventually you are, where you belong to ! 👏👌

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) October 5, 2019