NEW DELHI: In a light-hearted moment that unfolded during India’s warm-up match against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma jokingly threw a mock punch at Sarfaraz Khan.
Sarfaraz, donning the wicketkeeper’s gloves in place of Rishabh Pant, fumbled an easy take behind the stumps. Sarfaraz’s uncharacteristic error drew laughter from teammates and spectators, while Rohit’s playful reaction highlighted the camaraderie within the squad.
The incident took place in the 23rd over of the innings when Harshit Rana delivered a short-pitched ball to Oliver Davies. The ball went past Davies but was fumbled by Sarfaraz behind the wickets, who failed to collect it cleanly.
As Sarfaraz bent down to retrieve the ball from the ground, Rohit seized the moment to give his teammate a playful punch on the back, sparking laughter among players and the crowd.
Talking about the match, fast-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana picked 4-44 as India bowled out Prime Minister’s XI for 240 in 43.2 overs in the pink-ball warm-up game at the Manuka Oval on Sunday.
After day one of their two-day pink-ball tour match was washed out due to rain, India elected to bowl first in a curtailed 46-over-a-side contest.
Young batter Sam Konstas shone by hitting a 90-ball century, which puts more pressure on Australia’s out of form batter Marnus Labuschagne, as well as newbie opener Nathan McSweeney, who didn’t do much on debut at Perth.
