Watch: Sarfaraz Khan takes brilliant diving catch to remove Tom Hartley; celebrates with a kiss towards dressing room

Sarfaraz Khan stole the limelight on the ongoing Day 3 of the Ranchi Test against England. The India batter even though didn’t make an impact with the bat in the first innings, he made sure that he contributed to his team in the field at the Jharkhand Cricket Association complex. 

Sarfaraz Khan took a brilliant diving catch to send England spinner Tom Hartley packing. It happened in Kuldeep Yadav’s over when the leg-spinner bowled a tossed-up delivery under the eye line of the batter, who shaped up for a big shot. 

Tom Hartley tried to hit it big but the ball got dragged off the inner half of the ball. It went down the throat of the Sarfaraz Khan, who was posted in between mid-on and long-on. The fielder dived forward and held a brilliant catch to send the batter packing. 

What caught the attention of many was after Sarfaraz Khan took the catch, he got up immediately turned back, and blew a kiss towards the dressing room. His vital fielding effort provided India with their 7th wicket. 

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/2YEYYZIhxJ

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Tom Hartley didn’t go big in his innings as he managed just 7 runs off 25 balls. He hit Ravindra Jadeja for a big six in his innings and attempted the same against Kuldeep Yadav. But the sharp spin of the leg-spinner outfoxed him and left England tottering at 133/8.

This was Kuldeep Yadav’s fourth wicket in the day. The leg-spinner has been tremendous with the ball in the second innings and is running through the England batting lineup. Since Rohit Sharma has introduced him into the attack, he has changed the game completely for India.

Kuldeep Yadav is turning the ball perfectly and is making England batters think a lot. The leg-spinner has removed Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes, Tom Hartley and Ollie Robinson in his innings so far. He would be eager to pick a fifer and help India bundle out the opposition as early as possible. 

Sarfaraz Khan to play a vital role for India with the bat in the second innings 

England has already taken a lead of over 180 runs in the ongoing innings. On a pitch, that is keeping low and turning sharply, anything over 200 would be a challenging score to chase, that too in the fourth innings, where the batter becomes extremely tough. 

Sarfaraz Khan now automatically becomes a vital cog in the wheel for the Indian team for the second innings. The batter, who has been a giant in the domestic circuit, will have to play a huge role with the ball turning and spinning sharply. He is touted as a good player of spin and if he bats well, India’s chances will increase. 

Sarfaraz Khan made his debut in the Rajkot Test and it was a dream debut for him. The batter slammed two half-centuries in two innings in the game and helped India win the game. He looked solid in the first innings as he batted for 53 but couldn’t score big as he perished for 12 runs.