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Sarfaraz Khan’s dismissal towards the end of India’s pink-ball warm-up match against PM’s XI left Rohit Sharma disappointed.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma was left in disbelief after Sarfaraz Khan was caught behind in the pink-ball warm-up game against Australia’s Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Sunday. It was slated to be a two-day clash which was later shortened to one day due to bad weather. The PM’s XI batted first and were bowled out for 240 in 43.2 overs.
Sarfaraz who came into the crease at no. 8 was able to survive just four deliveries and scored one run before falling victim to Jack Clayton.
During India’s 44th over when Sarfaraz and Washington Sundar were batting, from the dugout, Rohit was seen asking both the batters to accelerate the innings.
Just three balls later, Sarfaraz tried to push a Clayton delivery towards the leg side but missed it. The ball brushed off the outside edge of his bat and the wicketkeeper made no mistake.
Sarfaraz looked a bit confused when the umpire raised his finger, signalling out. That’s when the camera panned towards the Indian camp where Rohit was seen covering his head in disappointment.
His reaction has gone viral with the commentator asking, “Is he laughing or crying? I feel he is laughing.”
A few users on social media felt Sarfaraz was not out as the ball made no connection with his bat.
It, however, could not be rechecked by the UltraEdge as there was no DRS system available in the practice match in Canberra.
One Indian fan humorously asked, “Umpire, is he sleeping?”
Referring to Rohit’s reaction, another fan said, “Sarfaraz is not going to make the Adelaide playing XI anyway. Rohit should be worried more about his own batting form, especially when he is going to replace the in-form KL Rahul as an opener, and the decision to make Gill play at Number Three and Rahul in the middle order.”
Rohit did not play the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy which India won by 295 runs in Perth to take a lead in the five-match series. The veteran opener will return to action in the second match, scheduled to be a day-night contest at the Adelaide Oval starting December 6.
With Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul opening the innings, Rohit batted at no. 4 in the warm-up game. He managed only three runs off 11 balls.
Shubman Gill, who has just recovered from a thumb injury, top-scored for India with a 62-ball 50 before retiring hurt.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sunday also looked good in the middle order while Jaiswal scored 45 after his valiant century in the second innings of the Perth Test.
Among the Indian bowlers, Harshit Rana fetched a four-wicket haul while Akash Deep picked two.
- Location :
Canberra, Australia