Sarfaraz Khan celebrates Test debut with twin fifties: Stats
Sarfaraz Khan has entered the record books with twin fifties on Test debut. While he hammered a brilliant 62 in India's first innings of the ongoing third Test against England in Rajkot, the dasher backed his fifty with an unbeaten 68 off 72 balls (6 fours, 3 sixes). He became just the fourth Indian to hammer twin 50-plus scores on Test debut.
A stunning display of big-hitting from Sarfaraz
Sarfaraz arrived to bat on Day 4 with the scorecard reading 258/4. India were looking to step on the paddle as they had a 126-run first-innings lead. The dasher joined forces with double-centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal (214*) and the two Mumbaikars made a mockery of the English bowling attack. While Sarfaraz was a little watchful early on, he later scored runs for fun.
A terrific partnership between Jaiswal and Sarfaraz
Jaiswal and Sarfaraz made England bowlers look absolutely clueless as they added 158 runs for the fifth wicket. The scoring rate during their stay was a stunning 6.53 runs per over. As per ESPNcricinfo, this is the highest run-rate for an Indian pair which has added 150 or more runs in a Test innings.
Sarfaraz joins these names
As mentioned, Sarfaraz became just the fourth Indian to smash twin 50-plus scores on Test debut. He joined the esteemed company of Sunil Gavaskar (65 & 67* vs West Indies, 1971), Dilawar Hussain (59 & 57 vs England, 1934), and Shreyas Iyer (105 & 65 vs New Zealand, 2021). Iyer remains the only Indian to score a hundred and a fifty on debut.
4,000 FC runs for Sarfaraz
The 26-year-old Sarfaraz came into the match with 3,912 runs in FC cricket. He has now raced past 4,000 runs (4,042). Sarfaraz slammed his 13th FC fifty. He also owns 14 centuries with the best score of 301*. His average of 70.91 is only third to Don Bradman (95.14) and Vijay Merchant (71.64) among batters with at least 2,000 FC runs.
England need 557 to win
India compiled a mammoth total of 445 courtesy of centuries from Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Mark Wood starred for England with 4/114. In reply, England managed 319 as opener Ben Duckett made 153. India declared their second innings at 430/4, setting England a target of 557 runs. Besides Jaiswal and Sarfaraz, Shubman Gill (91) did well.
