"Haven't seen Sarfaraz Khan bat that much" - Rohit Sharma reveals who suggested the batter could do the job

Sarfaraz Khan made his Test debut in the third Test against England, played at the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium in Rajkot. India won the third Test by a huge margin of 434 runs and Sarfaraz Khan impressed everyone with his brilliant batting in both innings as he scored 62 in the first innings and 68* in the second innings. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma lauded Sarfaraz Khan’s performance and admitted that he had not seen much of Sarfaraz Khan with the bat before this Test match.

Rohit Sharma got to know from some Mumbai players that Sarfaraz Khan can do the job in the middle order as the 26-year-old batter has a good amount of experience and has played a lot of domestic cricket. Sarfaraz Khan was unfortunately run out in the first innings after scoring 62 off 66 deliveries. He then went on to add 178 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings for the fifth wicket as he remained unbeaten on 68 off 72 deliveries. India won the third Test and took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series

Rohit Sharma shared his thoughts on Sarfaraz Khan’s impressive Test debut against England in the third Test and he admitted candidly that he has not seen him bat much but has heard about him from some Mumbai players. Sarfaraz Khan amassed 3912 runs in 65 innings at an average of 69.85 in first-class cricket before being included in the Test match. He slammed 14 centuries and 11 half-centuries which included a tripe hundred. He came into limelight after scoring 928 in nine innings at an average of 154 in the 2020 Ranji Trophy season

“I haven’t seen Sarfaraz bat that much. But all the people I’ve heard from, the players who are from Mumbai, (that) he’s made runs in a lot of difficult situations for Mumbai. He’s hungry for runs and for the last 4-5 years, he’s continuously made runs in domestic cricket, so (that means) he’s doing something good,” the Indian captain said.

Rohit Sharma did not discuss any plans with Sarfaraz Khan

On whether any specific instructions were given to the debutant, Rohit Sharma said, “We didn’t discuss any plans with him. Because I know that if you let him be, he’ll do his job, which I’ve heard from the players from Mumbai.” Sarfaraz went out to bat at No.6 in the first innings and he smashed nine boundaries and a six against English bowlers in the first innings.

In the second innings, Sarfaraz was a bit more aggressive as he slammed six fours and three sixes for his 68 off 72 deliveries. He was brilliant with the bat on his debut and has given some confidence to the team management and the captain that he is here to stay. India and England will now face each other in the fourth Test at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi.

India is currently leading the five-match Test series by 2-1 and they will be hoping to clinch the series by winning the fourth Test in Ranchi. However, England needs to win the match if they have to win the remaining two matches if they have to win the Test series against India and repeat 2012.