All-rounder Washington Sundar emerged as the star of the show for India on Day 1 of the 2nd Test against New Zealand, but Sarfaraz Khan ended up making as much news as his teammate. Sarfaraz, who is in red-hot form, coming off a belligerent knock of 150 in last week's Bengaluru Test, was in the thick of action on Thursday when he single-handedly convinced Rohit Sharma to opt for the DRS and lead to Will Young's wicket. As the ball glanced past Young's bat and pad, Sarfaraz, one of the close-in fielders was the only one who heard a noise. The bowler Ravichandran Ashwin was unsure, as was Rishabh Pant. As Rohit looked for support, it came from none other than Sarfaraz, who persuaded the India captain to go for the review as if his life depended on it.

As it turned out, Sarfaraz was right. The ultra edge detected a faint spike, enough to change umpire Richard Illingworth's decision and give India their second wicket of the day. Sarfaraz knew; he was dead sure from the moment the ball went past Young that he had heard something. The next task for him was to win Rohit's confidence, and he did so by urging the skipper to trust him.

"I knew there was contact, but there is always room for some misjudgment. But I heard a noise and hence, felt there was something involved. I was at backward short leg so when the ball was going past his bat and glove, I noticed that the bat was away from the pads. I heard a noise and that's when I went to Rohit bhai and told him, 'Rohit bhai, mere pe bharosa karo. Ball lagi hai, aap lo review. Main bol raha hu aapko, lo (Trust me. The ball has hit something, just take the review. I am telling you, take it)," he told BCCI.

Sound analysts surprised

Illingworth wasn't even remotely interested in giving Young out, but Sarfaraz was adamant he had heard something and let Rohit Sharma know about it. Sarfaraz's instincts can be bracketed as one of those once-in-a-lifetime calls. Why? Because even the BCCI analysts where are involved behind the scenes, failed to hear what Sarfaraz did. "I did not hear the sound, as it is very feeble," KN Srinivasa Rao, a sound supervisor within the team said. “But the hawk-eye has a different technology, which can identify the smallest of small sounds. I thought it was not out, but it turned out to be out.”

Akanksha Pandey, the director's assistant said: "We were surprised when we saw the replays. We were watching the pictures that the director was cutting, and we were smiling because everybody is always convinced when they are trying to talk the captain into taking the DRS."

Sundar in awe

Sundar, who put up a career-best show of 7/59 to bowl New Zealand out for 259, was nowhere in the picture when the DRS was taken. He came into action much later, only to overshadow his senior Ravichandran Ashwin, who took 3/64. Seeing Sarfaraz confidence, Sundar was equally in awe of his teammate's tactical judgment.

"Honestly, I was a good 70-80 meters away from the middle, so I had no idea. I obviously didn’t hear any sound, but Sarfaraz seemed to be very convinced with it. Really happy that Sarfaraz eventually convinced Rohit bhai," said Washington.

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