3 milestones Sarfaraz Khan crossed en route to 62 off 66 balls on Test debut vs England
Sarfaraz Khan, the highly touted youngster with a prolific domestic record, marked his Test debut against England with a captivating innings. The newly named Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot is hosting the third Test, where Sarfaraz hammered 62 off 66 balls.
After opting to bat first, India made 326/5 at stumps on Day 1. The hosts endured an early collapse, losing three wickets for just 33 inside nine overs.
Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja then forged a match-changing partnership of 204 runs. Rohit made a heroic 131 before getting dismissed, with Sarfaraz Khan then coming to the crease. He played an innings full of composure and batted with aplomb, asserting his authority against a top-quality English bowling attack.
Unluckily, due to a misunderstanding with Ravindra Jadeja, the youngster was run out with a direct hit by Mark Wood. Sarfaraz had to give up his wicket even though it appeared like he would start his Test career with a three-figure score.
En route to his special knock, Sarfaraz etched his name in the record books reaching three different milestones. Here are those milestones:
#3 50th 50+ score by an Indian debutant in Tests
Quite a unique milestone this but Sarfaraz's half-century in Rajkot is the 50th instance of an Indian debutant scoring 50+ score in Tests.
Smoking nine boundaries and a maximum, Sarfaraz accumulated 62 runs in the 75 minutes he batted against England. The first-ever Indian player to score 50+ on Test debut was Lala Amar Singh, who made 51 against England at the Lord's in 1932.
Dhruv Jurel, who is playing the Rajkot Test would love to be the 51st Indian on the list.
[Stat credit: @kaustats]
#2 Second-highest strike rate by a top-order batter vs ENG on Test debut
Sarfaraz Khan has become the 122nd Test batter ever to hammer a 50+ score on his Test debut against England. Among Indian players, he is the 19th individual to achieve the feat.
However, with his aggressive approach, Sarfaraz has etched his name among the batters with one of the highest strike rates on their debut innings against England in Tests. The 26-year-old struck at a rate of 93.94, which is the second-best against England on Test debut.
Luke Ronchi, who made his Test debut for New Zealand against England in 2015, pummelled 88 runs in only 70 balls, thus having the best strike rate of 125.71 on the list.
#1 Joint-second-fastest half-century by an Indian on Test debut
The most eye-catching element of Sarfaraz's innings was undoubtedly its blazing speed. He reached his fifty in a mere 48 deliveries, etching his name alongside Hardik Pandya (vs SL in 2017) in the record books as the joint-second fastest Indian player to achieve this feat on their Test debut.
Sarfaraz feasted on anything loose, dispatching boundaries with elegant strokeplay. In his brief stay, each of his shots exuded confidence, announcing his intent to dominate and leaving the English bowlers searching for answers.
The record for smashing the fastest half-century for India on Test debut is held by Yuvraj of Patiala, who took 42 balls to reach his maiden Test fifty against England in 1934.