Sarfaraz Khan belongs! If the 26-year-old Mumbai batter's knock was an indicator of anything, it was this as he took his first flight in international following scoring truckloads of runs in domestic red-ball competitions. It was a nervous start for him when he came in to bat on the first day of the third Test against England at the fall of skipper Rohit Sharma's wicket. After he got his first boundary, the nerves settled down and as he himself admitted, he was in his zone, where he could play the spinners and notched up his maiden fifty of just 48 balls.
Sarfaraz continued his merry run and looked like getting to the three-figure mark. However, an avoidable mix-up meant Ravindra Jadeja initiating a non-existent run to which Sarfaraz responded and ended up falling prey to Mark Wood's direct hit at the non-striker's end. Sarfaraz was disappointed, so was Jadeja and the entire dressing room with skipper Rohit Sharma even throwing his cap in disgust. But as Sarfraz said, it happens and the game moved on with Jadeja getting to his century.
This was not the first time that a run out took place in the series involving. It happened in both innings of the series opener in Hyderabad with Ashwin getting run out in the first innings and Jadeja himself in the second. This was also not the first time that Jadeja's partner was run out while batting after crossing 50. It happened last year when Virat Kohli after scoring 121 against the West Indies in Port of Spain found himself short after a misunderstanding.
Almost a replica of Sarfaraz's dismissal happened in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy when Jadeja instinctively called for a run before the then captain Ajinkya Rahane batting on 112 at the MCG was short while returning to the crease after having committed for the run. Maybe Sarfaraz should feel lucky to be in a company as elite as this.
As he addressed the press, Sarfaraz was over his dismissal saying, "Sometimes there can be a bit of miscommunication - it's part of the game. Sometimes you get run-out, sometimes you don't - these things keep happening."
