If the Rajkot Test against England was both an emotional and memorable match for Sarfaraz Khan, who made his international debut for India in the third match of the series and scored half-centuries in both the innings, his campaign in Ranchi was a forgettable one. Sarfaraz was undone by a clever field placement in the first innings of the fourth Test by England captain Ben Stokes, before being dismissed for a golden duck in India’s fourth-innings chase. While highs and lows are all part and parcel of the game, what left fans on social media angered was a certain dressing room image of Sarfaraz post his dismissal on Monday.
The dismissal happened in the 39th over, in the delivery after Shoaib Bashir, who had picked up a maiden five-wicket haul in his first-class career in the first innings, dismissed Ravindra Jadeja. The finger-spinner dished out a flighted ball and it turned in. Sarfaraz lunged forward to defend it, but got the slightest edge onto the pad before the ball lobbed to Ollie Pope at backward short leg.
It was Sarfaraz’s first golden duck dismissal, having scored 60 odd in both innings in Rajkot before getting 14 runs in the first innings in Ranchi. He was disappointed as he walked back to the pavilion with India still 52 runs away from the target.
However, moments later, when Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill were in the midst of their match-winning partnership, cameraman spotted Sarfaraz in a rather relaxed mode in the dressing room, sitting alongside Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav. The image left fans angered on social media.
Here is how fans reacted on social media…
Jurel and Gill stitched a valiant 52-run stand, battling it out against the England spinners, as India claimed a comfortable five-wicket win against England. It was the first time India successfully chased a target of more than 150 runs in a fourth innings of a Test match since the historic win in Gabba in 2021.
With the win in Ranchi, India have claimed the five-match series against England with an unassailable 3-1 lead. The contest still has a match left in hand with a fifth and final tie in Dharamsala.
