The fifth and final Test match between India and England in Dharamshala saw the hosts missing a DRS opportunity in the second session of Day 1. Had they taken a review, it would have been the end of Zak Crawley but the latter was gifted with a lifeline who then piled on India’s misery by adding runs on the board. The major confusion happened during the 26th over of England’s innings when Crawley tried to middle Kuldeep Yadav’s ball but failed to connect the ball properly.
Meanwhile, the red cherry got a slight edge off Crawley’s bat before the ball lobbed in the air. Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Khan who was stationed at short leg took a catch in his safe pair of hands. As the ball traveled quickly, some of them were unsure whether the ball hit the batsman’s pads or the bat. However, Sarfaraz Khan who caught the ball was fully aware that the ball got a slight edge.
Rohit Sharma ignores DRS Sarfaraz Khan’s request
Rohit Sharma was trying to take inputs from his players in the meantime. While Sarfaraz Khan remained confident, Dhruv Jurel wasn’t convinced. In the end, Rohit Sharma decided not to take DRS despite Sarfaraz Khan pleading with him. Just moments later, the replay on the large screen showed that Zak Crawley got a slight edge off his willow and the priceless moments were captured in the after-effects.
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While Sarfaraz Khan sarcastically smiled and shook his head in disbelief so were skipper Rohit Sharma and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. Zak Crawley capitalized on the lifeline to better effect by scoring a half-century. While he sets sights on scoring a century, Kuldeep Yadav made a mess of his stumps as Crawley departed for 79. Kuldeep Yadav was the wrecker-in-chief as he took five wickets whereas Ravi Ashwin took 4 wickets in his 100th Test as England were bowled out for 218 in the first innings.
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In response, the hosts got off to a spectacular start in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma as the duo stitched together a 104-run stand before Jaiswal was stumped out by Ben Foakes off Shoaib Bashir’s bowling. Jaiswal departed after making 57. As things stand, India ended Day 1 at 135/1, with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill batting on 52 and 26 runs respectively.