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Team India batter Sarfaraz Khan opened up on his animated reacting after a mix-up with Rishabh Pant on Day 4 of the Test match against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 19. He explained that he was desperately trying to grab Pant's attention to ask him to go back, but the keeper-batter wasn't looking at him, which led to a panicked situation.
Sarfaraz (150) and Pant (99) were involved in a brilliant 177-run stand for the fourth wicket on Day 4 of the first Test against the Kiwis. The partnership could have ended much earlier following a horrible mix-up between the two. In the 56th over of India's second innings, Sarfaraz late-cut Matt Henry and took a single. He started going for the second but then stopped. Pant, however, kept running without watching his partner.
To grab the keeper-batter's attention, Sarfaraz started jumping frantically and waved his hands as well. By the time Pant realized that his partner wasn't coming for the second run, he was halfway down the track. He rushed back, and luckily, New Zealand wicketkeeper Tom Blundell couldn't throw down the stumps as he received the throw at a rather awkward bounce.
At a press conference after the end of Day 4, Sarfaraz was asked about the mix-up between him and Pant that almost ended the partnership. He explained:
"As you all might know, a ball hit Pant yesterday (on his knee) and he got injured. The discussion in the middle was that we will be watchful with the running. I was nearing my hundred and I called for two after playing a late cut. Then I realized that he is having pain in his knee, so how will he run?
"I raised my hands to say no. I was asking him to stop, but he wasn't looking at me. That caused the misjudgment. But thank God, he survived," the 26-year-old went on to add.
While Sarfaraz went on to notch up his maiden Test ton and converted it into 150, Pant fell one run short of what would have been his seventh Test century.
"Runs start flowing from both ends" - Sarfaraz on batting with Pant
Both Sarfaraz and Pant are highly aggressive batters who score at a quick rate even in Test matches. While the former had a strike rate of 76.92 during his knock on Saturday, the latter ended his innings with a strike rate of 94.28. On the experience of sharing the crease with Pant, Sarfaraz said:
"Nothing, runs start flowing from both ends. When the left-arm spinner was bowling, I tried to give him the strike because I knew he can take on the bowler."
Despite Sarfaraz and Pant's batting heroics, New Zealand need only 107 runs to win the Bengaluru Test. Team India collapsed from 408-3 to 462 all-out, putting the Kiwis on top again in the contest.
