When he made a duck in the first innings of the opening Test match against New Zealand at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Sarfaraz Khan found himself under a little bit of pressure coming into the second innings of the game as he replaced injured Shubman Gill for the encounter.
With the batter anticipated to return at his favorable position of number three for the second Test of the series in Pune, the toss-up was always going to be between KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan for the selection. When the latter walked into the middle, the home side was under some control at 95/2 but was a little under pressure, having lost two consecutive wickets.
The trail of 356 runs for the second innings was always keeping the Rohit Sharma-led side behind the eighth ball, for which someone was needed to showcase the aggressive version of their batting, which would allow them to score runs freely and hand the pressure back in the dressing room of the visiting side.
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Sarfaraz Khan put up a 136-run stand for the third wicket with Virat Kohli, who was undone by a Glenn Phillips delivery on the eleventh ball of the third day’s play. But because the Mumbai batter was smashing the Kiwi bowlers all around the park, it helped the former Indian captain to grind some time in the middle and play as he wished.
Sanjay Manjrekar hails Sarfaraz Khan for his 150 vs New Zealand
The work was half-done when the 26-year-old met Rishabh Pant at the beginning of the fourth day’s play. India needed to keep on batting with the same intent, and the two players from the new generation of Indian cricket showed how to deal with the longest format of the game.
The right-left combo cracked a stand of 177 runs for the fourth wicket, which allowed the Blue Brigade to wipe out the deficit and gain a lead, which at one point of time felt some sort of magic. Sarfaraz Khan notched up 150 runs in just 195 deliveries, shouldering on 18 boundaries and three sixes. Some of the uppercuts he played in the knock was nothing short of perfection.
Sanjay Manjrekar believed that on the bouncy surfaces of Australia, where there is pace and bounce and not a lot of seam movement, Sarfaraz Khan could enjoy his time in the middle.
“Very happy to see the way he plays fast bowlers, and he has played fast bowlers before as well against England. This was a pitch very similar to the foreign pitches that we get, where there is a bit of pace and bounce. Interestingly, I am imagining him on a flatter pitch in Australia, where there isn’t a lot of seam movement.” Manjrekar predicted in an interaction with ESPNcricinfo.
The veteran trusted that the right-handed batter’s technique hasn’t been that bad for pitches down under, and he could migraine those Aussie bowlers.
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“He is going to give migraines to those Australian bowlers because of the shots that he plays. There is certainty, there is calmness, and if you see the close-up of Sarfaraz Khan, he watches the ball always onto his bat. He has tremendous hand-eye coordination. His technique isn’t bad for Australia. I will be very excited to see how he goes, he is a definite candidate, and he should walk into the India playing XI against Australia.” The former Indian batter concluded.
The opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 will be played on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.