Sarfaraz Khan’s much-awaited worldwide debut was well worth the wait as he scored a superb half-century on the primary day of the third India vs England Take a look at in Rajkot on Thursday. After years of constant show within the home cricket tournaments, Sarfaraz Khan made his debut particular with a knock of 62 in 66 balls, with 9 fours and a six on the primary day of the Take a look at match. His runs got here at a strike charge of 93.33.
Sarfaraz Khan reached the half-century mark in simply 48 balls. In doing so, Sarfaraz Khan equalled the nationwide report within the post-independence period for the quickest half-century by an Indian debutant in Assessments. Earlier than this, Hardik Pandya had scored a 48-ball half-century on his Take a look at debut towards Sri Lanka in 2017. General, the quickest half-century by an Indian debutant got here in 42 balls. The Yuvraj of Patiala achieved the feat in 1934.
England assistant coach Paul Collingwood on Thursday heaped reward on debutant Sarfaraz Khan, whose aggressive 62 allowed India to attain 326 for 5 on day one of many third Take a look at.
Collingwood mentioned Sarfaraz confirmed a “lot of courage to play like that” after the right-handed batter smashed his fifty off 48 balls, the joint quickest by an Indian on debut. “He came out and batted really well. We kept attacking fields to him. He likes to be a strokemaker and play his shots,” Collingwood advised the media after stumps right here.
“I thought Ben (Stokes) wanted to keep attacking fields so we could create a chance. And fairplay to him (Sarfaraz), he had the courage to go over the top on a few occasions,” Collingwood added.
“He sweeps really well and put the bowlers under pressure. On debut, it take as a lot of courage to come out and play like that. I guess from his point of view, it was a shame to get run out the way he did. You can see why he has got a pretty good first-class average — he looks a decent player,” he continued.
Collingwood mentioned although England exploited the early circumstances effectively, it was a toil for the rest of the day because the ball went comfortable and the pitch didn’t have a lot for the bowlers.
“It was a great start, there was a bit of movement around this morning, it seemed a bit cooler, a bit of moisture on the ground so the ball nipped around a bit. Jimmy and Woody were exceptional. As the ball gets softer, it’s doing less,” he mentioned.
“The spinners toiled away all day with little reward but when you’ve got quality batters like they have in the India team, they’re always going to get a response.
“The two guys who got hundreds and Sarfaraz at the end played exceptionally well. We threw everything at them, in terms of plans and field positions,” he added.
With PTI inputs
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