It was a teary morning in Rajkot for Sarfaraz Khan and his family as the 26-year-old finally made his long-awaited Test debut for India in the third match against England on Thursday, February 15. Sarfaraz, who has been piling on runs for fun in first-class cricket since 2020, averages 69.9 in red-ball cricket and was finally rewarded for his consistent run as he received his Test cap. It was an emotional day for the Khan family as Sarfaraz's father Naushad and his wife couldn't stop their tears.
It was as much as Sarfaraz's dream as his father's, who has sacrificed a lot for his sons. As Anil Kumble presented Sarfraz his Test cap, Mr Naushad couldn't control his tears. After the cap presentation, Naushad hugged his son and kissed his Test cap and tears continued to roll down his cheeks. Sarfaraz's wife too broke down as the Mumbai batter wiped off her tears. Just pure, raw emotions of dreams getting fulfilled.
Take a look at the video:
It has already become one of the moments of the Test match as the photos and videos of Sarfaraz's father went viral.
However, it was not just Sarfaraz, the Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel also made his Test debut as India made four changes to their line-up. Apart from Sarfaraz and Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj came back into the line-up for the hosts as India look to take a lead in the series. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first on what looked like a very good surface to bat at Rajkot's Niranjan Shah Stadium.
Playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson
