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Following a fine half-century on his international debut in the second Test against England, Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan said that playing a Test for his country is the proudest moment of his life.
Sarfaraz finally made his much-anticipated international debut, entertaining the spectators with his 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. Following his innings at the post-day press conference, Sarfaraz said, "It felt really good. I came to the ground and was given my Test cap. I was six years old when I started playing cricket. It was my dream to have him watch me play for the Indian team. Now, it has been fulfilled." "First, my father wanted to play for India. But he could not due to some reasons. Then he started working hard on me and my brother (Musheer Khan). This is the proudest moment of my life," he added. The batter said that he was nervous initially, but he had worked hard and practiced well so everything turned out to be good for him. "I was padded up for 4 hours. I thought that I had shown so much patience in my life, maybe show some more. Initially, I was nervous for a few balls because I was playing for the first time. But I had worked hard and practiced well, so everything turned out to be well," said Sarfaraz. The batter said that he was not too much focused on his runs, but rather was overwhelmed by emotions on having played for India, that too in front of his dad Naushad, who spent years of his life working hard on honing his son's cricket. "I was nervous initially. Later, when I went in the zone, everything looked normal and I realised that I had been doing this since years. I was not too concerned about runs and performance. I was just happy to have played for India in front of my dad. First, he was not coming to the ground, but some people convinced him to go. I received my Test cap in front of him, he was really emotional, and my wife was emotional as well. It seemed some pressure was off my shoulders and all the hard work they had done on me did not go to a waste," said Sarfaraz. Sarfaraz's surge to the international level was much anticipated by fans, who have kept an eye on his domestic cricket form. He has been thriving in first-class cricket, most notably the Ranji Trophy, where he top-scored in 2021-22 with 982 runs in six matches, placed fifth in the 2019-20 season with 928 runs in six matches, scoring well in the 2022-23 season as well with 556 runs in six matches. In the unofficial Test series of three matches against England Lions that earlier happened side-by-side with the series between senior sides, Sarfaraz did well for India A, scoring 96 in a Tour match then 4, 55 and 161 in two unofficial Tests. In 45 first-class matches before his international debut, Sarfaraz scored 3,912 runs at an average of 69.85, with 14 centuries and 11 fifties, with the best score being 301*. Coming to the match, India opted to bat first after winning the toss and ended the first day at 326/5, with Ravindra Jadeja (110* in 212 balls, with nine fours and two sixes) and Kuldeep Yadav (1*) unbeaten. Earlier, India was in trouble at 33/3. But centuries from Indian skipper Rohit Sharma (131 in 196 balls, with 14 fours and three sixes) and Jadeja took India out of trouble. Sarfaraz's half-century also helped India go beyond the 300-run mark. Pacer Mark Wood (3/69) was the pick of the bowlers for England. (ANI)
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