Sarfaraz Khan was left shaking his head after Rohit Sharma did not listen to his appeal and India missed an opportunity to dismiss Zak Crawley.
India, who had England two down at lunch on Day 1 of the 5th Test at Dharamsala, could have picked up a third had they not missed a DRS opportunity shortly into the second session on Thursday. Different viewpoints between Rohit Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel gave half-centurion Zak Crawley a lifeline, and slapped India with an erroneous mistake.
Sarfaraz Khan couldn’t believe it but Rohit Sharma brushed it away with a smile. (Screengrab)
The confusion took place in the 26th over of the England innings, and the first of the session as Kuldeep resumed the proceedings post lunch. Second ball, as Crawley offered to play the glance shot, he didn’t get it too well and the ball lobbed in the air off something – pad or bat, not sure. The ball went at such speed that it brushed off Jurel’s gloves, but before it could land on the ground, Sarfaraz, at short leg, grabbed it.
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The moment he did, Sarfaraz and the rest of his teammates went up for a huge appeal – the youngster a little more enthusiastic. But after the umpire nodded his head, a frenetic Sarfaraz walked up to Rohit to convince him for the DRS. As Rohit was surrounded by both youngsters – Jurel and Sarfaraz, the India captain was slightly torn. He looked keen to take Sarfaraz’s inputs – the youngster was buzzing with excitement and literally begged him to go upstairs.
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But since Jurel wasn’t too convinced, he preferred the keeper’s POV over Sarfaraz. The 10 out of the 15 seconds of India pondering over the decision belonged to Sarfaraz, who was at his most animated. Eventually, the umpire’s call stayed as Rohit and India decided not to challenge it.
Watch the confusion below:
The after-effects
As the broadcast returned after the commercial, the delivery was replayed on the big screen. And much to India’s shock, there was indeed a faint nick. The moment Sarfaraz saw it, he broke into a sarcastic smile and shook his head. The camera then panned to Jurel, who wore a sheepish look on his face, and eventually to Rohit, who tried to brush it all under the carpet with a wry smile. As multiple angles were replayed on the giant screen, Rohit acknowledged his error, offered a thumbs up to Sarfaraz and then well… did Rohit things, with a jovial gesture towards Sarfaraz. Even Kuldeep, stationed in the deep, was in anguish.
That wasn’t all. A few overs later, the roles reversed as Crawley attempted another glance – this time off the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah – and the ball thudded into the hands of the keeper. This time, Jurel was convinced but Sarfaraz wasn’t as he shrugged his head. And once again, Sarfaraz was the one who got it right. The sound when the ball went past the batter was off the ball clipping the thigh pad. Fortunately for India, Rohit’s error in judgment didn’t cost them big time as Kuldeep cleaned up Crawley for 79 to pick up his third of the innings.
