Bengaluru Test: Sarfaraz Khan smashes debut hundred against New Zealand; puts India back in the match
Sarfaraz Khan scored his debut hundred in international cricket in the first Test match between India and New Zealand at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. It required seven innings for him to accomplish the feat. Sarfaraz scored it in 110 deliveries, hitting 13 boundaries and three maximums.
He replaced Shubman Gill in the starting lineup, as Gill is currently dealing with a stiff neck. Earlier this year, the 26-year-old played his first Test match against England in Rajkot.
Sarfaraz 22nd Indian to score a duck & a century in the same Test
In the first innings against the Kiwis, Sarfarz was out for a naught but made a remarkable comeback in the second innings, marking the 22nd occurrence of an Indian batter getting a duck and a hundred in the same Test match.
After India lost both the openers in quick succession, he put up a strong partnership with Virat Kohli for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed by Phillips for 70. Sarfaraz is coming off a double century in the Irani Cup for Mumbai against Rest of India earlier this month. In First-Class cricket, he has scored 15 centuries.
Also read: Virat Kohli reaches 9,000 Test runs as Team India fights back in Bengaluru
Kohli-Sarfaraz partnership help India bounce back
Virat Kohli, yesterday, became just the fourth Indian batsman to score 9,000 Test runs, joining legends of the game like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar.
Kohli and Sarfaraz put up a great partnership to help India get back in the match and stabilized India’s innings. While Sarfaraz was aggressive, Kohli demonstrated his typical finesse with clean drives and strokes down the ground.
