IND vs ENG: It took a long time for Sarfaraz Khan to finally fulfil his dream of making an India debut but not much for the Mumbai-born to enter into the record books in his maiden Test itself. After knocking on the doors of an India call-up for nearly three years, the Mumbai batter slammed a fifty on debut in just 48 balls.
Sarfaraz Khan put up a show at the Niranjan Shah Stadium with a blistering half-century to make England taste their own medicine of Bazball with calculated risks on the opening day of the Test. After Rohit Sharma fell following a stunning 131-run knock, the debutant raised up the ante with a 48-ball fifty and equalled all-rounder Hardik Pandya's record.
Sarafaraz has now scored the joint second-fastest fifty for an Indian debutant in Test cricket. He is now level with Hardik, who also took 48 balls to reach his fifty on debut against Sri Lanka in 2017. Sarafaraz is just behind former Indian cricketer Yadavenadrasingh (Yuvraj of Patiala) who made a fifty in his first and last Test in 1934.
Fastest fifties on men's Test debut for an Indian player:
Yuvraj of Patiala vs ENG, 1934 - 42
Hardik Pandya vs SL, 2017 - 48
Sarfaraz Khan vs ENG, 2024 - 48
Shikhar Dhawan vs AUS, 2013 - 50
Prithvi Shaw vs WI, 2018 - 56
India's Playing XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England's Playing XI:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson
