Sarfaraz Khan was aggressive against England spinners and reached his fifty off only 48 balls.
A debutant is expected to be nervous while playing his first innings for his country. But this was not the case with Sarfaraz Khan, India’s latest debutant in Test cricket. The Mumbai batter scored his half-century off only 48 balls and in the process, broke Hardik Pandya’s record as well.
Sarfaraz came in to bat when India were 237/4 and Rohit Sharma had been dismissed for a well-made 131. It was time for Sarfaraz to showcase his potential that he as shown in domestic cricket over the past few seasons. He started sedately, but found his range with his first four off the 13th ball he faced.
The right-hander didn’t look back after that and started playing attacking shots. He was particularly severe against England spinners and dominated them. Sarfaraz’s attacking intent put England on the back foot. His use of sweeps and reverse-sweeps were particularly impressive. He also used his feet against James Anderson which forced the keeper Ben Foakes to come up to the stumps.
42 – Yuvraj of Patiala vs England, 1934
48 – Hardik Pandya vs Sri Lanka, 2017
48 – Sarfaraz Khan vs England, 2024
50 – Shikhar Dhawan vs Australia, 2013
56 – Prithvi Shaw vs West Indies, 2018
Sarfaraz Khan was unfortunately run-out for a memorable knock of 62 from 66 balls, which included 9 fours and 1 six, in a disastrous mix-up with Ravindra Jadeja. India were 326/5 at stumps on Day 1 with Jadeja unbeaten on 110.
