New Delhi: Other than the players clinching milestones by taking wickets or smashing runs, the beauty of Test cricket also lies in the camaraderie that the teammates share with each other. A display of this was seen during the opening day (Thursday) of the second Test between India and New Zealand. The clash, which is being held at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, saw Will Young getting dismissed for 18, but all wasn’t as smooth as it seems.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, New Zealand got off to a decent start and were being carried forward by Young and Devin Conway after skipper Tom Latham’s departure. Ashwin, who had removed Latham, was in action with the ball and had seemingly removed Young off the final delivery of the 24th over. The right-handed batter was caught behind by Rishabh Pant but he himself wasn’t too sure about if Young has indeed edged it.
Pant’s non-surety sent the entire Indian team into the same state but not Sarfaraz Khan, who was stationed at backward short leg and claimed to have heard the sound of Young edging the ball. None of the players looked interested but Sarfaraz was quite convinced and almost charged towards Rohit to force him to take the review. Sarfaraz’s claim was backed by Virat Kohli and Ashwin as well and Rohit hesitantly made the “T sign”.
During the review, the UltraEdge confirmed that there was indeed a bit of spike when the ball was next to the glove. The decision was overturned and it was no one’s but Sarfaraz’s stubbornness that got India the upper hand. There was nothing special about the delivery as Ashwin sent a length ball turning down the leg from over the wicket. Young looked to glance it away but it bounced a touch more than he expected, getting a feather off the glove to Pant.
Control room in disbelief
In a video shared by the BCCI on its social media handle, Sarfaraz Khan was seen talking about Young’s dismissal and what made him convince the skipper to go for the review. The video also included snippets of Washington Sundar, who starred in Day 1 with a seven-wicket haul, and views of the control room operators as well, who run the decision review system (DRS) checks after the on-field umpire refers the dismissal or any boundary check, etc. via the third umpire.
Watch the video here –
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K N Srinivasa Rao, the sound supervisor for the Pune Test, said he didn’t hear the sound at all and he thought that it was not out. Akanksha Pandey, the director’s assistant said that they were all surprised by watching the replays of Young edging it. She added that when the director was cutting the images of Sarfaraz convincing Rohit, they were all smiles in the control room.
Meanwhile, India will carry on from 16/1 scored in 11 overs of their first innings at Stumps on Day 1. Rohit Sharma was sent packing by Tim Southee for a duck and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill currently bat on 6 and 10 respectively as India trail the visitors by 243 runs.
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