Finally, Sarfaraz Khan gets to make his much-awaited Test debut. The 26-year-old from Mumbai was given his debut Test cap on Thursday morning in Rajkot by Indian legend Anil Kumble.
Ahead of the third Test against England at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot, Sarfaraz Khan got a place in the India playing XI after KL Rahul couldn’t recover in time for the match due to a quad injury. Agra’s Dhruv Jurel, too, received his debut Test cap, from Dinesh Karthik, as the youngster replaced KS Bharat in the XI.
To mark this special occasion for Sarfaraz Khan, the team invited his family at the cap-handing ceremony. Sarfaraz’s father, Naushad Khan, who has also been his coach, burst into tears after his eldest son got his Test cap. An emotional, heart-warming moment transpired as Naushad kissed Sarfaraz’s cap before his son wiped the tears off his father’s eyes and consoled him.
Watch: Sarfaraz Khan shares emotional moment with his father Naushad Khan
Wholesome moments in Rajkot ❤️🥺
How excited are you to see Sarfaraz Khan & Dhruv Jurel 🧤 in the 3rd #INDvENG Test?#BazBowled #JioCinemaSports #TeamIndia #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries pic.twitter.com/r7VLxGTBxT
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 15, 2024
Sarfaraz Khan’s Test debut has been long expected as the right-hander has been piling up huge runs in red-ball cricket over the past three seasons. After 45 first-class matches, he averages a whopping 69.85 and has notched up 14 centuries and 11 fifties. Once KL Rahul was ruled out from the Rajkot Test and Shreyas Iyer was dropped, it was all but certain that Sarfaraz would get to make his Test debut.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first.
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson
Also Read: [Video] ‘He Is My Hero’: Dhruv Jurel Dedicates Debut Test Cap To His Father
