IND vs ENG | Sarfaraz adds lacking killer instinct to India in Bazballian debut display
After waiting in the wings for over a year, Sarfaraz Khan showed no jitters in Rajkot to assault the English and register a 48-ball fifty, the second-fastest by an Indian on debut. It was a bold statement from the middle-order maestro to not only show he belonged but that the Men in Blue needed him.
With less than an hour to go for stumps on Day 1 and England desperately seeking a late wicket, Ben Stokes handed the roughed-up red cherry to his most trusted lieutenant James Anderson for one final spell. Invariably, the veteran quick boasted the best economy on the day of 2.68, while the rest of the English attack had conceded their runs at over four an over.
Three balls into the burst, Ben Foakes had already walked up to the stumps as a preventive measure, only for the 41-year-old to uncharacteristically slide a wayward delivery wide of the stumps and be nonchalantly dispatched for a boundary down third man. A self-reprimand reeking of disdain followed from Anderson, in stark contrast to the calm reproach of his nemesis at the other end. That one sequence of play essentially summed up Sarfaraz Khan’s memorable debut.
Ever since surviving a five-ball bumper barrage from a worked-up Mark Wood to begin his Test career, Sarfaraz played with the self-belief of a seasoned campaigner to prove he belonged at this level. He got off the mark at the first opportunity he got by deftly flicking away Wood’s attempt at a surprise yorker for three comfortable runs which set the tone for his knock. The Mumbaikar later marched down the track to slap each of Anderson’s first two deliveries, turning the tables on England who had used this strategy as a key tenet in the Bazball era to put the opposition quicks under the pump. And while the exaggerated interception point did not fetch Sarfaraz runs, the tactic was enough to shake Anderson off his line and length, eventually allowing the batter to reap rewards.
Looking at the situation in which Sarfaraz walked in from a wide lens, the situation was perfectly tailor-made for him to capitalize. The Englishmen had been on the field for 63 tiring overs under the raging sun trying to manufacture wickets on an exceptionally flat deck. Yet, it was in exactly such circumstances that the visiting contingent had managed to wrestle momentum in their favour in both the previous Tests.
In Hyderabad, the Men in Blue had looked on course for a 500-plus total for pretty much the entirety of their first innings, until the last five wickets fell for just 80 runs and ultimately ended up costing them the Test. Similarly in Vizag, they had collapsed from 301/4 to 396 all-out and 211/4 to 255 all-out, thus spurning the opportunity to put the game decisively beyond England’s reach.
‘Not today’ seemed to be the motto for number 97 in Rajkot, however, as he displayed the array of shots that have made him a household name on the domestic circuit. He rocked back incredibly deep into the crease against Rehan Ahmed to smack away any hint of short length, strode forward confidently to dispatch Joe Root’s tossed-up deliveries, and shuffled down the track with aplomb against Alex Hartley to send the SG sailing to the fence coupled with the odd sweep shot.
Perhaps more impressively, the brilliance of Sarfaraz’s knock lay as much in what he did in between as in the nine boundaries and the maximum themselves. He combined a formidable front-foot defense for the quicker good length deliveries with a quick transfer of weight onto his back foot any time the ball was flighted in that range to work the ball around the corner. Through his 65-ball stay, Sarfaraz milked nine singles off the spinners between the square and long leg region along with many more pokes towards midwicket in hopes of easing the pressure.
A pressure that, incidentally, had been constantly threatening to boil over whenever he handed strike to the incumbent Ravindra Jadeja. Batting on 84 when Sarfaraz walked in, the southpaw had recoiled into a shell approaching his ton and comprehensively shut shop regardless of what was on offer. Sarfaraz ensured he gave Ben Stokes little opportunity to take advantage of the bubble with his incredible flexibility and provided the hosts the much-needed impetus. The nearly run-a-ball onslaught also ensured England could not take the new ball while the sun dipped and ambient light faded, lest Sarfaraz took advantage of the hard leather to propel the scoring rate beyond control.
In the past, Rishabh Pant had nailed this middle-order enforcer role to bail India out of trouble or capitalize on the set foundation, in what has become a global template adopted by every major Test nation – be it Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh for Australia, Daryl Mitchell for New Zealand, Aiden Markram for South Africa, or Harry Brook and his colleagues for England.
Ironically, it was eventually Jadeja’s callousness itself that ended up undeservedly costing Sarfaraz his wicket in a tragic run-out – the Saurashtrian brought up his ton on the very next delivery and Stokes opted for the new ball six balls later. However, Sarfaraz had already shown he could be the next addition to that esteemed list of batters and provide India with the killer instinct, at the very least on conventional Indian tracks.
Perhaps some credit for Sarfaraz’s immediate success also befalls the selectors who appear to have hit the bullseye in the age-old debate of when to blood a potential generational talent, on this occasion. Sarfaraz had failed to make a gargantuan impact for India A in the past, managing just 234 runs in his last eight appearances at 29.50 for the Blues before 2024 rolled around – a far cry from his first-class average of 69.85. However, in January, Sarfaraz finally broke the barriers with scores of 96, 4, 55, and 161 against the England Lions which led to an immediate call-up and a debut thereafter, albeit the unavailability of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli played a pivotal role as well.
As far as Sarfaraz is concerned, he has been ready for a long time for this moment, something he had made known with his social media shenanigans. Regardless of whether his shot at a spot in the Test team has been overdue, it is exactly the kind of confidence that makes Sarfaraz a force to be reckoned with and allowed him to etch his name in the Indian history books on Thursday.