Thursday, February 15, 2024, was a very emotional day in the family of Naushad Khan as his elder son, Sarfaraz Khan, fulfilled his dream of playing for India. And boy did he play.
26-year-old Sarfaraz Khan, who averaged 69 in first-class cricket – the third-highest FC average in the world for batters with a minimum of 50 innings under their belt – blasted 62 runs in his debut Test innings against England in Rajkot.
Musheer Khan, who recently had an impressive under-19 World Cup tournament in South Africa, made an emotional post for his father and brother after Sarfaraz’s memorable debut.
The right-hander was padded up for three hours as Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja forged a double-century partnership. He got his opportunity when Rohit got out with India’s score being 237.
Sarfaraz started cautiously against Mark Wood before smoking the England spinners with disdain. He walloped 9 fours and 1 six in his entertaining knock and seemed set for an epic debut Test hundred. However, he got run out due to a wrong call from Ravindra Jadeja, for which the senior all-rounder later apologized on Instagram.
Sarfaraz walked back to a standing ovation from the Rajkot crowd, which included his father Naushad Khan and his wife.
Musheer Khan’s emotional post for brother Sarfaraz Khan and father Naushad
On Instagram, Musheer Khan posted a picture of Sarfaraz and their father, Naushad Khan, who was a professional player in Mumbai but couldn’t reach higher levels, but made his sons professional cricketers, and now his elder one has left a huge imprint on the hearts of the Indian fans.
Musheer posted the picture of the moment when Sarfaraz Khan brought his Test cap, which was given to him by Anil Kumble, to his father and Naushad burst into tears and kissed the cap.
View this post on Instagram
After the end of day’s play, Musheer also called Sarfaraz and both had a brief conversation. Musheer said, “Bhai ek number. Maza aa gaya, dil khush ho gaya.” (Brother No. 1 performance. Really enjoyed it and very happy).
𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲!
A special phone call 📱 after a memorable Test Debut!#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/QcAFa5If9o
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 15, 2024
India will resume batting on Day 2 at the score of 326/5.
