The highly anticipated debut of Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan was finally upon us as he was given his maiden Test cap in what was an emotional moment for the player and his family. His innings with the bat proved to be worth all the hype as the youngster went on to score a quick half-century in his first innings in Test cricket going up against the mighty England at Rajkot.
Sarfaraz had come on to bat following the dismissal of fellow Mumbaikar and skipper Rohit Sharma following his fantastic century. As the captain was going away he had given the youngster a pat on the back and what followed was nothing short of brilliance. It was a cracker of an innings as he went on to bring up his fifty in just 48 deliveries.
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The debutant seemed to be nervous in his first 12-15 deliveries. But then kicked off as he looked to attack the spinners with boundaries coming in over after over. The surprising thing to note is that his partner on the other end, Ravindra Jadeja seemed to be stuck in the nineties taking the rare single to get him closer to that triple-figure mark.
The 26-year-old’s knock has also equalled Hardik Pandya’s innings on debut to become the second fastest fifty by an Indian batter on debut. Some other names below him include the likes of Shikhar Dhawan who scored a run-a-ball fifty against Australia in 2013 and Prithvi Shaw who brought up his maiden half-century in 56 deliveries against the West Indies.
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However, his innings was shortlived as Jadeja looked to take the single to bring up his century but made the wrong call as Mark Wood who was stood at mid-on got the direct hit to send the youngster packing. Despite the unfortunate end to his dismissal, many were thrilled to see the intent shown by the Mumbaikar to take on the bowlers and the aggressive field being set against him.
India finished at 326/5 at stumps on Day 1 with Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten on 110 and Kuldeep Yadav in as the nightwatchman. The hosts will look to continue their charge as they hope to post a massive total and take the game on with the ball as well.
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