Yet another chaotic batting performance from the Indian stars in the third Test against New Zelanad left pundits scratching their heads. Be it Virat Kohli's catastrophic run-out on Day 1 of the Mumbai Test or Sarfaraz Khan's batting position, there were many incidents that sparked debate in the first innings. After India rode on the brilliant performances of Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant on Saturday, a bizarre decision by skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Gautam Gambhir sparked an intense debate on social media. Sarfaraz came into bat at the No. 8 position for India, leaving some fans and former cricketers bewildered.
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has not shied away from asking tough questions of India's team management after Sarfaraz was demoted from the batting order at a Don Brandman-esque venue.
“A man in form, has 3 fifties in his first 3 Tests, gets 150 in the Bangalore Test, a good player of spin, pushed back in the order to keep the left and right combination? Makes no sense. Sarfaraz now walks in at No. 8! Bad decision by India,” Manjrekar posted on X.
A man in form, has 3 fifties in his first 3 Tests, gets 150 in the Bangalore Test, a good player of spin, pushed back in the order to keep the left and right combination? There's no point. Sarfraz now comes in at number 8! Bad decision by India.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) November 2, 2024
Sarfaraz didn't last long after coming to bat at number 8 and was dismissed by Ajaz Patel for a 4-ball duck.
In his last six innings at the Wankhede Stadium, Sarfaraz Khan has smashed a whopping 601 runs in First Class cricket at an average of 150.25. His last 6 scores at the venue were: 177, 6, 301*, 44, 21 and 52*.
Seeing the likes of Mohammed Siraj (night watchman) and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Sarfaraz at the venue left many fans and cricket experts baffled. The likes of Siraj and Jadeja were dismissed for 0 and 14 respectively.
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