"On debut it takes a lot of courage to..." - Paul Collingwood in awe of Sarfaraz Khan

Former England cricketer Paul Collingwood was in awe of Sarfaraz Khan‘s impressive outing on debut for India at Rajkot. He said that the batter had a lot of courage as he played boldly in his maiden innings. 

Even though Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja slammed centuries on Day 1 of the Rajkot Test, debutant Sarfaraz Khan grabbed the spotlight. The Mumbai batter finally made his debut for India and lived up to the expectations. 

Sarfaraz Khan came to bat when India lost Rohit Sharma for 131 runs. The batter after that played magnificently well and didn’t look like he was playing his first innings for India. The right-hander batted positively and made sure he put pressure on the opposition. 

Sarfaraz Khan played attacking cricket as well in his innings and also defended the ball pretty well. He was looking set for a big knock but got run out. He ended with innings of 62 runs off 66 balls and also hit 9 boundaries and 1 six in his innings. 

Paul Collingwood pointed out how Sarfaraz Khan looked unfazed by the attacking field set by Ben Stokes. He lauded the batter for his courage, stating that he played sweeps well. 

The former England cricketer feels that Sarfaraz Khan puts bowlers under pressure and said that his high average in first-class cricket speaks for itself. Speaking to the media, he explained: 

“I thought Ben (Stokes) wanted to keep attacking fields so we could create a chance. And fairplay to him (Sarfaraz), he had the courage to go over the top on a few occasions. He sweeps really well and put the bowlers under pressure. 

“On debut, it takes as a lot of courage to come out and play like that. I guess from his point of view, it was a shame to get run out the way he did. You can see why he has got a pretty good first-class average – he looks a decent player.”

The two guys who got hundreds and Sarfaraz Khan  at the end played exceptionally well – Paul Collingwood 

Paul Collingwood further stressed that England had the game in their grasp in the first hour of the play. But he believes that centurions Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja along with Sarfaraz Khan played pretty well. He added: 

“It was a great start, there was a bit of movement around this morning, it seemed a bit cooler, a bit of moisture on the ground so the ball nipped around a bit. Jimmy and Woody were exceptional. As the ball gets softer, it’s doing less. 

“The spinners toiled away all day with little reward but when you’ve got quality batters like they have in the India team, they re always going to get a response. The two guys who got hundreds and Sarfaraz at the end played exceptionally well. We threw everything at them, in terms of plans and field positions.” 

At stumps on Day 1, India were at 326/5 with Ravindra Jadeja batting at 110.