India cricketer Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a duck on Saturday during his first match as a red-ball opener.The Boards President’s XI are taking on South Africa in a practice match. On day three of the clash, the BP XI skipper Sharma in the second over of the innings was dismissed by Vernon Philander.

Ahead of the upcoming three-match Test series against India, South Africa are playing a practice match to get used to the Indian conditions. On September 12, the MSK Prasad led Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the series against South Africa and announced their decision to hand Sharma the chance to open the batting in the series.

Former Team India opener Gautam Gambhir also voiced his support for the 32-year-old to open the batting in the longest format of the game.”If a player scores 5 hundred in the World Cup, then he should be given a chance in the Test format. If he is in the Test team, then he must play. A player like should him not warm the bench,” Gambhir had said.

Team India’s vice-captain in Test cricket Ajinkya Rahane also publicly voiced his opinion on how painful it was to see a player like Rohit sitting on the bench during the West Indies series.