IND vs NZ: Sarfaraz Khan smashed his maiden Test hundred in Bengaluru on Saturday. (BCCI)Sarfaraz Khan smashed his maiden Test hundred for India batting at No. 4 in the first Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Forging a firm counter with Virat Kohli on Day 3 after India were left with a mammoth 356-run pursuit in the second-innings by the Kiwis, Sarfaraz sped to 70 on Friday.
Despite losing Kohli on the last ball of the previous day, the 26-year-old Sarfaraz continued his assault with Rishabh Pant for company on Day 4 morning, reaching his maiden Test ton in only 110 balls. Notably, only two of Sarfaraz’s 100 runs came in the V between wide long-off and long-on. The Mumbaikar’s hundred was laced with 13 fours and three sixes.
What a remarkable Wagon Wheel that is for Safaraz Khan. 👀
📸BCCIhttps://t.co/emnJzK1mVV pic.twitter.com/Qx3u5qzbWx
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) October 19, 2024
The hundred marked Sarfaraz’s 16 First-Class ton and a second in consecutive matches. After missing out on a spot in the recently concluded Test series against Bangladesh, Sarfaraz made a statement with a double hundred for Mumbai in the Irani Cup tie against ROI in Lucknow earlier this month. Sarfaraz became the first Mumbai batter to record an Irani Cup double hundred.
Sarfaraz is only the seventh Indian No. 4 to score a Test hundred this century, joining an elite list comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Ajinkya Rahane.
Replacing an injured Shubman Gill in the XI, Sarfaraz fell for a duck in the first-innings as India were skittled for 46, their lowest total at home. Accommodating Sarfaraz at No. 4, India’s senior batter Kohli also moved up to No. 3 for the first time in a Test in eight years.
Interestingly, Sarfaraz has more FC hundreds than fifties (14) so far in his career. Sarfaraz’s First Class average is currently the highest among all active cricketers, at 69.56*, across 52 matches.
On his Test debut against England in Rajkot, Sarfaraz smashed twin half-centuries and followed up with another fifty in the Dharamsala Test as India won the series 3-1.
Known to hit big ‘daddy’ hundreds, Sarfaraz has converted 10 of these 15 tons into 150-plus scores, four of them being double hundreds. Sarfaraz notched his highest score, a whopping 301 not out for Mumbai in a 2019-20 Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh, his former side.
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