Alastair Cook, the legendary former captain of England, was left speechless by Sarfaraz Khan, the recent newcomer, who stunned the visitors with some beautiful strokeplay in the game’s purest form, evoking memories of Rajkot’s bygone era. The youthful batter from Mumbai has notably been pounding on the doors of the Indian selection process for a considerable amount of time. In addition to making his debut under duress for Team India, Khan went on to write the script, becoming the second-fastest Indian after Hardik Pandya to score fifty for the team in just 48 deliveries.
Sarfaraz Khan’s captivating batting outburst was cut short by a dashing throw from pacer Mark Wood, which meant he was unfortunate not to be able to reach a likely century the next day. But like all the fans and experts, Alastair Cook was also quick to recognize and give the young person his due. The all-time great southpaw expressed how much he liked Sarfaraz’s batting. Additionally, he made the point that the young player played the ball late and attacked the spinners with good intent, which was evident in his astounding domestic results. Remarkably, he also alluded to the quiet wickets of India, citing Ravindra Jadeja’s triple century in the domestic arena.
“Sarfaraz’s batting was enjoyable. You don’t average 70 runs in first-class cricket without being a serious player or run-getter, so I was intrigued to see him,” Cook was cited by TNT Sports as saying.
Because the Ranji Trophy is often played on extremely flat wickets, you have to doubt some of the statistics. Jadeja, for example, has amassed three hundred runs there. However, this man can really bat. It was quite unfortunate that he ran out. The legend of England went on, “I liked how positive he was and how late he played the ball to the spinners.”
Team India leads, following hundreds from Rohit and Jadeja; Sarfaraz Khan’s fifty helped India wrap up Day 1 with a bang.
Speaking of the third Test of the series, Team India was facing a certain defeat in the morning session with a score of 33/3 after suffering some early setbacks. But Team India’s all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (110* off 212), who was pushed up the order, and captain Rohit Sharma (131* off 196) took command of the batting unit and held the fort. As a result, the pair restored India’s chances of winning the match with a 204-run strong partnership for the fourth wicket. However, just as Sharma appeared to be poised for yet another father-child hundred, a blow from Mark Wood proved to be decisive, and he fell for the ruse to give England his wicket.
Subsequently, the Sarfaraz Khan show displayed bravery and strategically moved the balls about to maintain the scoreboard’s movement. Because of this, he and Ravindra Jadeja put up a stand of 77 runs at the start of the evening, keeping England searching for wickets. Team India is at 326/5 at stumps, with Kuldeep Yadav acting as the night watchman at the crease.
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