Sarfaraz Khan‘s much-awaited international debut was worth the wait as he scored a fine half-century on the first day of the third India vs England Test in Rajkot on Thursday. After years of consistent display in the domestic cricket tournaments, Sarfaraz Khan made his debut special with a knock of 62 in 66 balls, with nine fours and a six on the first day of the Test match. His runs came at a strike rate of 93.33.
Sarfaraz Khan reached the half-century mark in just 48 balls. In doing so, Sarfaraz Khan equalled the national record in the post-independence era for the fastest half-century by an Indian debutant in Tests. Before this, Hardik Pandya had scored a 48-ball half-century on his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2017. Overall, the fastest half-century by an Indian debutant came in 42 balls. The Yuvraj of Patiala achieved the feat in 1934.
England assistant coach Paul Collingwood on Thursday heaped praise on debutant Sarfaraz Khan, whose aggressive 62 allowed India to score 326 for five on day one of the third Test.
Collingwood said Sarfaraz showed a “lot of courage to play like that” after the right-handed batter smashed his fifty off 48 balls, the joint fastest by an Indian on debut. “He came out and batted really well. We kept attacking fields to him. He likes to be a strokemaker and play his shots,” Collingwood told the media after stumps here.
“I thought Ben (Stokes) wanted to keep attacking fields so we could create a chance. And fairplay to him (Sarfaraz), he had the courage to go over the top on a few occasions,” Collingwood added.
“He sweeps really well and put the bowlers under pressure. On debut, it take as a lot of courage to come out and play like that. I guess from his point of view, it was a shame to get run out the way he did. You can see why he has got a pretty good first-class average — he looks a decent player,” he continued.
Collingwood said though England exploited the early conditions well, it was a toil for the remainder of the day as the ball went soft and the pitch did not have much for the bowlers.
“It was a great start, there was a bit of movement around this morning, it seemed a bit cooler, a bit of moisture on the ground so the ball nipped around a bit. Jimmy and Woody were exceptional. As the ball gets softer, it’s doing less,” he said.
“The spinners toiled away all day with little reward but when you’ve got quality batters like they have in the India team, they’re always going to get a response.
“The two guys who got hundreds and Sarfaraz at the end played exceptionally well. We threw everything at them, in terms of plans and field positions,” he added.
With PTI inputs
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