[Watch] Sarfaraz Khan and Mark Wood exchange words after a flurry of boundaries in 5th IND vs ENG Test
Team India's Sarfaraz Khan and England's Mark Wood were involved in a fleeting altercation, exchanging a few words in close quarters by the stumps, during Day 2 of the fifth Test in Dharamshala on Friday, March 8.
Speedster Wood was struggling to impose himself against Team India's dominant batting show in their first innings. Apart from being wicketless, he was also conceding runs at more than six runs per over.
England thought they could claw their way back into the match after a couple of quick wickets to send back both centurions right after Lunch, but Sarfaraz Khan's arrival and aggressive batting have not helped their cause. The middle-order batter has put on a brilliant show, scoring his third fifty in five innings, including an onslaught on Mark Wood.
In the 76th over of the innings, Sarfaraz Khan took on the right-arm pacer off the first delivery itself, scoring a boundary over the bowler's head. Wood stepped up to bowl a dot ball next, but Sarfaraz was at his brilliant best with his execution of an unorthodox shot off the next delivery.
The right-handed batter crouched low and ramped the ball over the wicket-keeper and the slip cordon towards third man for another boundary. The shot, much more common in white-ball cricket, left Wood frustrated as he kicked the ball towards the stumps after bowling the fourth ball of the over. The pacer and the batter exchanged a few words as well.
Have a look at the incident right here:
Sarfaraz Khan's attack on Wood did not end there. The pacer was struck for a four and a six off the first two deliveries in his very next over as well.
Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal's middle-order charge propels India's lead
After a turbulent start to the second session, in the form of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill's dismissals, Team India have recovered well courtesy of a budding unbeaten 97-run partnership between Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal for the fourth wicket.
The inexperienced pair negotiated a tough period before beginning to express themselves and worsen England's plight. At the end of the second session on Day 2, Team India are placed at 376/3, with Sarfaraz and Padikkal still intact on 56 and 44 runs respectively. The lead reads 158 runs.
Will Sarfaraz Khan convert his start into a maiden ton? Let us know what you think.