Sarfaraz Khan came out to bat at No. 4 for India in the first innings of the ongoing first against New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday (October 17) but failed to open his account. He was sent back to the pavilion for a three-ball duck by Matt Henry on the fourth ball of the 10th over. Kiwi opener Devon Conway completed a superb catch of Sarfaraz with his one hand by diving to his right.
The video of Sarfaraz’s flying catch by Conway was shared by Jio Cinema’s official X handle, and within no time it went viral on the internet.
Sarfaraz, who scored a double century for Mumbai in the first innings of the Irani Cup 2024 match against the Rest of India in Lucknow earlier this month, was included in the playing XI in place of Shubman Gill. Gill, who has hammered three centuries in eight Tests played so far in 2024, was not 100% fit, which is why he was left out.
Sarfaraz came out to bat at No. 4 after Virat Kohli was dismissed for a nine-ball duck by William O’Rourke, but he could stay at the crease for three balls. He was the third Indian batter to return back to the pavilion in the first session of the second day’s play of the ongoing first India-New Zealand Test.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma was the first to get dismissed. He was clean bowled by Tim Southee for 2 runs from 16 balls on the third ball of the seventh over. Kohli came out to bat at No. 3 in Test for the first time since August 2016, but he failed to do much. He was caught by Glenn Phillips on the last ball of the ninth over.
The first day’s play of the first India-New Zealand Test was washed out due to rain, and there are high chances of rain impacting the game on the second day as well.
India has made two changes to the playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand. Apart from Sarfaraz, Kuldeep Yadav is also playing for the hosts. He came in place of Akash Deep.
