Image Credit- PTI
You can hardly miss Sarfaraz Khan. The reddest red
socks of all are on him. Someone hurry up and get over to Sesame Street to see
whether Elmo has lost any pieces. Being one of the last to reach the nets,
Sarfaraz spent a significant portion of the afternoon interacting with the man
who possesses the ability to fulfil all of his goals. Sharma Rohit.
The discussion is animated and lengthy. There’s head
tilting and waving of hands. There are deliberate pauses as well as laughter
breaks. While everyone else is focused on hitting or bowling, these two
continue their conversation like a pair of schoolchildren sitting on the back
bench.
It’s finally time for Sarfaraz to display his goods.
He goes to get his bat out of his kit and unpack it. It briefly gleams as the
sun hits the fluorescent orange and yellow stickers on it. No one does a better
hero introduction scene than Bollywood. He has been averaging 84.42 in
first-class cricket since 2020. Finally, there has been a tap on the shoulder.
Rajat Patidar was deep into his work, even though all
of this was going on in the background. He hit first, going after the spinners.
His first six deliveries consisted of four different types of sweeps. Two
forward pushes stood out because Mohammed Siraj wasn’t exactly in the mood to
support any flashy strokeplay.
India is trying to prevent a repeat of Hyderabad,
where they were waiting for a nasty ball to be bowled by the spinner, but it
never materialised. Every batter, including Kuldeep Yadav, took out the broom
throughout the afternoon. especially Patidar. Before Sarfaraz, he was called up
to the squad, and this management does adhere to the principle of first come,
first served. Just like the last government, they respect the authority of the
incumbent.
And the ones determining the pecking order had it
right, judging by the session he was having in which he appeared to be able to
position himself to take more shots than wind up stuck playing the forward
defensive. At the crease, Patidar is agile, making decisive movements forward
or backward and making sure the ball meets his eyes. Naturally, that is during
the times when he isn’t trying to fool the spinners by performing those sweeps
flawlessly.
Sarfaraz is inside the net next to it. He’s been
forced to extend his body forward. He’s suddenly out of position since the ball
has sunk. Then his wrists begin to twirl. He had been suckered in, but his
hands adjusted so fast that he managed to keep the ball down. Then his biggest
asset took control from there. Strength. Simply put, power. It seems reasonable
to think that when he hits the red leather, heat will radiate from it.
Additionally, it appears like Kuldeep will succeed
Ravindra Jadeja. Since he arrived at the nets first, he had the privilege of
performing the afternoon’s first reverse sweep. Later, he was just concerned in
keeping others from using it. And he was reasonably successful.
It was almost as if many of the hitters were just
feeding balls to enable the sweep and reverse sweep; to enable the finding of
gaps and the scoring of runs and the feeling of good. This was something Ashwin
made a point of telling the batters he was paired with the fields he was
employing. But eventually, Ashwin began tinkering with his lengths because he
was tired of being teased.
It is true that the best of the best don’t just
randomly change things up, but they also hate losing. Something had to give and
it has.