It was worth the wait for Mumbai-born batter Sarfaraz Khan who compiled runs after runs in the domestic circuit (Ranji Trophy) for years to get noticed by the Indian selection committee before finally receiving a maiden call-up for the Test side and taking world cricket by a storm. The amount of experience he gathered in red-ball cricket is such that on his debut, he has become just the 4th batsman ever to amass back-to-back half-centuries across innings in a Test match.
Sarfaraz Khan after receiving his first Test cap on Friday morning by the legendary former leg-spinner Anil Kumble, had a dreamy start to his international career. He arrived in the middle at a crucial juncture of the game when Rohit Sharma departed after scoring 131 before the debutant stood for a solid partnership with another centurion Ravindra Jadeja.
Sarfaraz and Jadeja stood for a partnership of 77 runs to help India’s total get over 300 before the former had to depart from the middle after an unfortunate mix-up with the latter that resulted in a run-out. That even triggered an aggressive reaction from skipper Rohit Sharma who was seen throwing his cap in the dressing room.
Following Sarfaraz Khan’s unfortunate departure on day 1, his father Naushad Khan would state that there are no worries regarding that as these things are normal to happen in the game of cricket.
It’s a part and parcel of the game. Sometimes, you get run out, and sometimes in some other way. It was his luck and I would not blame anyone. If luck favors him, he will again score big.” – Naushad Khan told reporters outside the Niranjan Shah stadium.
2 days later during India’s 2nd innings with the bat, Sarfaraz kept his father’s word and delivered yet another half-century knock which was as similar as it was in the 1st innings in terms of aggression and firepower. His strike rate went from 93 to 94 in the 4th innings as he stood for an entertaining partnership of 172-run partnership with the double centurion for the second time in this series – Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Both Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan have played together many times for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and the chemistry between the two was great to see. They even had a short quarrel in the middle after Jaiswal refused to complete a double that could have seen Sarfaraz reach 49 runs but nonetheless, moments later both of them achieved what they desired.
Sarfaraz Khan joins the elite list headed by Dilawar Hussain and Sunil Gavaskar
With his 68 off 72, Sarfaraz Khan has become the 4th overall batter for India to have 50+ scores across innings on Test Debut. The first ever batsman who did so was Dilawar Hussain who had scores of 59 and 57 against England in 1934, way before India even attained Independence at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The 2nd batter to do so was the 1983 World Cup winning batter, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar who scored 65 and 67* in West Indies back in 1971. Shreyas Iyer who was dropped after the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Vizag, had scored 105 and 65 against New Zealand in 2021 at Kanpur.