'Jadeja sold 'chunky' Sarfaraz Khan down the river': Lloyd on ...

It's been over 12 hours but that run out of Sarfaraz Khan still pinches. The 26-year-old was on song, likely set for a century before an unceremonious run out led to an anti-climatic finish to his innings. Following a mix-up with Ravindra Jadeja… yes-no – Sarfaraz was run out after his senior pro called for a single but retracted. Sarfaraz was left for dead and Mark Wood made no mistake in collecting the ball at mid-on and nailing a direct hit.

Jadeja was on 99 at the time of run-out, and one can't help but imagine that it was the urgency to complete the century which led to the error in communication. In fact, former English cricketer David Lloyd feels that the writing was on the wall, and that the running between Jadeja and Sarfaraz was all over the place during their entire partnership.

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"You could see. They were at sixes and sevens, Jadeja and Sarfaraz as to what is a run and what isn't. Jadeja is sharp; the young kid isn't. He's a chunky little lad, and they just struggled running between the wicket together. Jadeja is on 99, and he sells Sarfaraz down the river. He sets off, says yes-no, and he is stranded. Then Mark Wood's got to do the job," Lloyd said on talkSPORT Cricket.

Was David Lloyd right?

And you can't argue with Bumble. As rightfully pointed out, Sarfaraz and Jadeja weren't always comfortable running between the wicket despite their brisk fifty partnership. When Sarfaraz walked out to bat, Jadeja was on 84, and by the time he was run out, the all-rounder had only added 15 more runs. Which clearly states that Sarfaraz was the aggressor during their stand. In fact, he contributed 43 off the first 50 runs of their partnership and even as Jadeja went into a shell, Sarfaraz tried to push his partner for the quick singles.

After Jadeja once turned down a single, Sarfaraz was heard saying 'Aa jao, bhaiya' (Come on, brother). And as Jadeja slowly approached his century, pretty much crawling towards the landmark having scored 6 runs in 23 balls, Sarfaraz was indeed getting a bit restless. He was going at his own speed, scoring his runs at a strike rate of almost 94. Jadeja and Sarfaraz added 77 runs, and it could have been a lot more had better communication prevailed. The disappointment was evident on Jadeja's face, whose celebrations on completing his 4th century were muted.