The umpires were seen having an animated chat with Rohit Sharma. The reason – Sarfaraz Khan.Controversy erupted in the second session of the ongoing third and final Test between India and New Zealand after on-field official Richard Illingworth issued a stern warning to India captain Rohit Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan. Illingworth spoke to both players during the break between the overs on Day 1 of the Wankhede Test because of Sarfaraz’s incessant chatting. Sarfaraz, who was fielding at the short leg/silly point position, was constantly chirping away at Daryl Mitchell and Will Young, which irked both the batters. He did so just as the bowler was coming on to bowl.
The incident happened before the start of the 32nd over. After it went on for a while, the on-field officials summoned both Rohit and Sarfaraz. The umpires were seen having a serious conversation with the duo. Virat Kohli also joined his teammates as Rohit led the animated discussions with the umpire. The commentators on broadcast suggested that Mitchell had complained to the umpire about Sarfaraz’s chatter disturbing him while batting.
Thankfully, the matter didn’t last long, ending with a fist bump between Rohit and Mitchell. New Zealand win the toss and opt to bat first. In the ongoing third Test, it was New Zealand that won the toss and opted to bat first. India struck thrice in the first session. Akash Deep first removed Devon Conway, and then Sundar struck to send Tom Latham and Rachin Ravindra back to the hit.
Sundar went through the defence of both Latham and Rachin Ravindra. This is now the third consecutive time that Washington Sundar dismissed Rachin Ravindra. India are playing for crucial WTC points in the Mumbai Test after losing the first two matches of the ongoing series. This is India’s first home Test series loss in 12 years.
In order to make the WTC final, India now needs to win four out of their remaining six matches. After the series against New Zealand, India will travel to Australia for the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
