Must Watch: India Captain Rohit Sharma's Powerful Shot Nearly Hits Umpire Chris Gaffaney

There's a reason Rohit Sharma is known as the "Hitman." One of the cleanest ball-strikers in cricket history, he has turned into a nightmare for new-ball bowlers everywhere since he opted to be the overt aggressor in the powerplay. Rohit once again adopted an aggressive stance in Tuesday's semi-final match against Australia at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai, which helped him win the Champions Trophy 2025 with a huge score.

India skipper Rohit Sharma seized control of the match against Nathan Ellis with a powerful boundary down the ground after making a few enjoyable strokes early in his innings. Chris Gaffaney, the on-field umpire, was in the line of fire of the ball and nearly got smacked for the aggressive stroke made by the great opener. In the seventh over of the chase, Rohit smashed the ball with tremendous force, but Gaffaney was able to react quickly and get out of the way with lightning-fast reflexes.

India Captain Rohit Sharma Apologizes to Umpire:

SMASHED IT!

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The ball quickly sped to the boundary. Gaffaney thanked luck for avoiding harm as he indicated a boundary. Umpire Gaffaney gripped his chest and had a strange look on his face as he turned to face Rohit and Virat Kohli, who were glove-bumping in the middle of the field. Rohit was remorseful and held his tongue.

However, when Rohit attempted to play a slog sweep off all-rounder Cooper Connolly in the eighth over, his promising innings ended too soon. The umpire immediately ruled him out when the ball struck his pads. When Rohit scored 28 off 29 balls, he walked back to the pavilion. Early in the chase, India had already lost Shubman Gill (8) after he returned to his stumps after cutting a Ben Dwarshuis delivery.

Speaking of the game, Australia won the toss at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and decided to bat first. Travis Head had a spectacular impression inside the opening powerplay, adding 39 runs off 33 balls, despite a sleepy start, when opener Cooper Connolly left early. Shubman Gill grabbed Varun Chakravarthy's head long off to give India their second breakthrough.

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