India captain Rohit Sharma was involved in a hilarious incident with teammate Sarfaraz Khan during the second day of two-day practice match against Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Sarfaraz, who came on as a substitute wicketkeeper to replace Rishabh Pant, fumbled a regulation take behind the sticks. As a result, Rohit jokingly punched him on the back. The incident happened on the 23rd over of the innings after Harshit Rana bowled a short pitched delivery to Oliver Davies, who had just came out to bat after the dismissal of Jack Clayton.
The ball whisteled past Clayton, but Sarfaraz, who was keeping the wickets, failed to hold on to the ball. As Sarfaraz was about to collect the ball from the ground, Rohit hilariously punched him on the back. However, both shared a smile after the incident.
Rohit pic.twitter.com/ivusxzLlhh
— Abhi (@CoverDrive001) December 1, 2024
Davies was dismissed for a duck on the very next ball by Rana, who cleaned him up with a ripper.
Earlier, the two-day practice match was reduced to a 50-overs-a-side contest after no play was possible on Day 1 due to heavy rain.
In the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India staged a stunning comeback from a series whitewash against New Zealand at home, defeating Australia by 295 runs in Perth despite being bowled out for a mere 150 runs in their first innings.
Star Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the upcoming Adelaide Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after he sustained a side strain, as reported by ESPNcricinfo on Saturday.
Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett, who are yet to make their debut in the Test were added to the Australian squad for the second Test match.
As per ESPNcricinfo, Scott Boland will likely be Hazlewood’s replacement in the playing XI for the day-night Test.
ESPNcricinfo quoted Cricket Australia’s statement saying that Hazlewood had a “low-grade left side injury” and he would remain with the squad in Adelaide to recover from his recovery.
The day-night Adelaide Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be starting from December 6.
(With ANI Inputs)