When Sarfaraz Khan joined Virat Kohli in the middle on the third day of the opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru, the home side was in a good position at 95/2 before they put up a great partnership for the third wicket. The Mumbai boy remained unbeaten on 70 runs at the end of the day, besides watching Kohli getting dismissed.
Sarfaraz Khan had a job on his hands to contribute more with the bat, and he found injured Rishabh Pant coming out at the beginning of the new day’s play. Both of them never looked to defend anything against the bowling department and showed their aggression both against the pacers and the spinners.
The Mumbai batter cracked some big shots against the pacers, and when Ajaz Patel came into the bowling, Pant decided to nail him all around the ground. But the running between the wickets between those two wasn’t too sweet at the start of their stand.
There was a little mix-up between Sarfaraz Khan and Pant, a close call that could have put water on the hard work of the Indian team at this point. The former guided the ball in the third man’s region. He started with the running to come back for the double but later realized that fielder Devon Conway was quick to collect the ball and throw it.
Sarfaraz Khan spills the beans on the exact story of the potential run-out with Rishabh Pant
Pant was recovering from a knee injury, which he picked up during his keeping time in India’s first innings of bowling. He was sprinting to come back for the double without watching the fielder pick up the ball. But Sarfaraz did.
The 26-year-old came to the bowling end, turned back, and started to jump and shout at Pant to go back, and his partner eventually was saved by the awkward throw of Conway to the wicket-keeper Tom Blundell, who made a wrong throw at the end.
Sarfaraz Khan explained that the mix-up with Pant occurred due to the knee injury of Rishabh Pant. They agreed to run cautiously to avoid the risk, but the quick thinking of the Mumbai batter saved them from the potential run-out.
“Rishabh had taken a blow on his knee so we had this discussion that we will run carefully. I had called 2 initially but then remembered he was having knee pain. Thank God he survived that.” The youngster revealed this at the end of the fourth day’s play in the press conference.
Both of them put on 177 runs for the fourth-wicket stand, where the Delhi boy was unfortunate enough to be dismissed on 99, while his partner celebrated his maiden Test century and stretched it on to 150 at the end.
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Sarfaraz Khan remains optimistic about India’s chances of winning despite them defending a low total of just 107 runs in the fourth innings. He believed that a few early wickets of the Kiwi side could bring them back and put pressure on the visitors.
“Just that runs score freely. We were having a good conversation. I wanted to give him singles as we know what he can do. It is not an easy wicket. We are still in the game. The ball is turning. If we can get 2-3 quick wickets, then NZ will have some troubles.” He reckoned.
The second of the three-match Test series will take place on October 24 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.