[Watch] Sarfaraz Khan stuns Mark Wood with audacious ramp shot in 5th IND vs ENG Test
Videos of Indian middle-order star Sarfaraz Khan's audacious ramp shot against England's express pacer Mark Wood in Dharamshala on Friday have gone viral on social media. It was one among the many stunning strokes he played against Wood on his way to a 60-ball 56, but it was perhaps the most nonchalant.
Sarfaraz started by playing Wood's 140+ kph rockets carefully. But in the 76th over, he smashed the first ball over the fast bowler's head. The next ball was back-of-a-length, and the third was quicker and shorter, targeting his chest.
Playing it towards the leg-side with fielders waiting could have been risky, so Sarfaraz arched his back, sat down, and opened the face of his bat towards third man. The ball glided over the sticker of his bat on its way to the deep third boundary.
Watch a video of it here:
That shot took him to 27. In Wood's next over, he hit another four and a six before Ben Stokes removed the pacer from the attack. But that was not before Wood's frustrations were caught on the camera. He even exchanged a few words with the Mumbaikar at the non-striker's end.
Sarfaraz looked set for a big hundred. But he gave away his wicket off the first ball after the Tea break, edging a short and wide one from Shoaib Bashir to Joe Root at slip.
It was Sarfaraz's third half-century of his debut series and perhaps the most special because of the situation he was faced with. India were 279/3 after losing both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill within eight balls. He absorbed pressure and managed the variety of high pace and spin better than many expected.
India extend domination after Sarfaraz's 50
Devdutt Padikkal also completed his fifty and got out soon after Sarfaraz's wicket. At the time of writing this piece, India have extended their lead beyond 200, with Ravindra Jadeja and the in-form Dhruv Jurel at the crease. Catch it all here.