Indian debutant Sarfaraz Khan produced a brilliant 62-run knock against England at Rajkot on the opening day of the third Test in Rajkot as Team India put up 326 runs on the board at stumps on Day 1.
Sarfaraz’s father, Naushad Khan, was in attendance to witness his ward being handed his first Test cap before moments of overflowing emotions in which the player hugged his father in a fitting tribute to the sacrifices made by the man for his son’s career.
Naushad shared a message from team India’s star batsman Suryakumar Yadav that convinced him to be present to watch his son’s brilliant innings, after having second-guessed his decision to go to the stadium in order to avoid piling pressure on the batsman.
“Initially, I thought I wouldn’t come as that would put Sarfaraz under some kind of pressure, and apart from that I also had a bit of a cold. But Surya’s message almost made me melt,” Naushad said.
Naushad went on to share Suryakumar’s message to him, which stated, “I do understand your emotions. But trust me, when I made my Test debut (last year in March against Australia in Nagpur) and was receiving my Test cap, my father and mother were just behind.”
“And that moment was something beyond special. These moments don’t come too often. So I would suggest that you must go,” said Suryakumar in his message.
“After this message from Surya, I couldn’t stop myself from coming. Just took a pill and came here yesterday,” Naushad revealed.
Sarfaraz seemed in extremely fine touch as he went past the half-century mark with guile and class before being dismissed unceremoniously following a mix-up between the wickets, which caused his run out.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first as he went on to score an incredible 131 runs as he took charge after India were reeling at 33 for the loss of 3 wickets early in the day.
Ravindra Jadeja, who remained unbeaten at 110 at stumps, supported the captain well and helped steady the Indian innings after initial setbacks.
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