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In the pink-ball warm-up game at Manuka Oval, Canberra, Sarfaraz Khan was seen donning the wicketkeeping gloves on December 1. Sarfaraz is capable of wickets but is not a regular. As Harshit Rana generated extra bounce from the pitch, Sarfaraz could not hold on to the ball and dropped it which promoted a reaction from Rohit Sharma who was fielding at first slip position.
The incident took place in the 23rd over of the innings. Harshit had broken the third-wicket partnership between Sam Konstas and Jack Clayton. The pacer knocked over Clayton and then bowled a short ball to Oliver Davies. The ball whizzed past the bat and Sarfaraz fumbled due to lateral swing towards his right. As Sarfaraz picked up the ball, Rohit playfully punched him on the back. The video has gone viral on social media since.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz warmed the bench in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at Perth Stadium. He was replaced by Dhruv Jurel in the side. Jurel had scored two half-centuries in the India A game. Sarfaraz is unlikely to get his place back in the side for the pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval starting December 6.
The 27-year-old has registered scores of 11, 9, 0 and 1 in his last four innings after a fighting 150 at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru against New Zealand. His average has dropped to 37.10.
Rana goes on a rampage
After going for plenty as first change bowler, Rana struck twice in two overs. In just six balls, he bagged four wickets to cause a collapse. After Sarfaraz dropped the ball behind the stumps, he knocked over Davies with a fuller delivery. In his next over, he got the wickets of skipper Jack Edwards and Sam Harper as well. He conceded 44 runs from six overs but bagged four wickets.
Later, Sam Konstas went on to score a century. He reached the three figures from 90 balls. After the batting collapse, the teenage opener got support from Hanno Jacobs who scored 61 runs from 60 balls. Prime Ministers XI posted a total of 240 on the board from 43.2 overs.
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