Sarfraz Khan, who had long waited to play for India, realised his dream on Thursday when he was picked in the XI for the third Test against England in Rajkot. He made the occasion even more special by scoring a fifty on debut.
He was batting at a strike rate of 93.94 before he got run out following a mix-up with Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja later apologised to the debutant batter.
“Feeling bad for @sarfarazkhan97 it was my wrong call,” Jadeja posted on his Instagram story. “Well played,” he added, lauding Sarfaraz.
Sarfaraz Khan and his father emotionally embraced after receiving his first India cap before playing in Rajkot. The video and photo have won hearts on the internet. His wife was also present in the ground.
“Keep grinding in domestic cricket, and your chance to shine for Team India will come. Sarfaraz Khan’s standout performance today is a testament to that. A well-deserved half-century,” veteran Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan wrote on social media platform X.
“It never looked like it was his first Test innings. We all know about the talent he has and we have seen him dominate spin at the domestic level. But at the Test level, you need a completely different mindset and to have that approach and play that free-flowing innings was brilliant,” Anil Kumble said.
Sarfaraz Khan rose to prominence when aged 12, he broke the record for the highest score in the Harris Shield inter-school tournament, making 439 for Rizvi Springfield in an innings that featured 56 fours and 12 sixes.
In 2015, Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him for INR 50 lakhs, and he soon became the youngest player to play in the IPL. A year later, Sarfaraz finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, with 355 runs from six matches, often rescuing India from faltering starts.
