Prolific Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan has been added to the Indian squad for the second Test against England after Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul were ruled out due to injury. The 26-year-old has therefore earned a much-awaited call-up to the national side after being on the fringes for the last couple of seasons.
Sarfaraz’s inclusion comes after all-rounder Jadeja picked up a hamstring injury on Day 4 of the first Test in Hyderabad, while experienced batter Rahul complained of pain in his right quadriceps. The right-handed batter will be keen to make the most of the opportunity if it comes his way during the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam, which starts on February 2.
Sarfaraz has an exceptional domestic record, having smashed 3,912 runs in 45 first-class matches at an average of 69.85, with 14 hundreds and 11 fifties. He has also scored 629 runs in 37 List A games and 1,188 runs in 96 T20 matches.
When Sarfaraz Khan grabbed the limelight for his batting heroics in school cricket
While Sarfaraz has been one of the most talked about batters in Indian domestic cricket over the last few years, he first grabbed eyeballs as a 12-year-old when he hammered 439 for Rizvi Springfield against Indian Education Society (Kandivli) in the Harris Shield inter-school tournament in November 2009.
As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, the batter smashed 56 boundaries and 12 sixes in his 421-ball knock, which was at that point of time a record for the highest score in the tournament.
Sarfaraz had surpassed the previous record set by R Nagdev, who had hit 427 not out back in 1963-64. The right-handed batter was dropped three times – on 25, 253 and 302 – during his knock and took full advantage of the reprieves.
An old video shared by an X user, following Sarfaraz’s selection in the Indian Test team, features an interview with the cricketer after he scored 439 runs in the Harris Shield tournament back in 2009.
Apart from Sarfaraz, left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and all-rounder Washington Sundar have also been added to India’s squad for the second Test against England.
India are 1-0 down in the five-match series, having lost the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs. Chasing a target of 231, the hosts were bowled out for 202 as England’s debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley shone with 7/62.
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