"It was heartwarming for me to watch"- AB de Villiers on Sarfaraz Khan's sensational India debut against England
South African cricket legend AB de Villiers shared the dressing room with Sarfaraz Khan during their time together at the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He recently expressed delight at how Sarfaraz made the most of his opportunity in his debut Test against England in Rajkot.
After waiting for his India call-up for a considerable period, Sarfaraz showed what he was capable of with scores of 62 & 68* in the third match of the ongoing five-Test series against England. As someone who had played with the 26-year-old before, De Villiers was pleased to see the emotions from Sarfaraz's family.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, here's what AB de Villiers had to say about Sarfaraz Khan (2:20):
"I have played with this boy before and he is a very level-headed and down-to-earth guy. I am really proud of him. It was great to see his dad blow kisses after Sarfaraz reached fifty and it was heartwarming for me to watch."
AB de Villiers also praised Shubman Gill for playing another crucial knock when his spot in the side was under the scanner. Gill's 91 played an underrated role in India posting a mammoth target of 557 for the visitors. On this, De Villiers stated (11:07)
"He (Gill) has been under pressure and isn't in the best of forms. But he played such a crucial knock under pressure and that too at a crucial point in his career. This innings was crucial for him to get some breathing space in that Indian team."
England were bundled out for just 122 in the fourth innings, losing the game by a staggering 434 runs. India took a 2-1 lead in the series with their biggest Test win ever in terms of margin of runs.
AB de Villiers on Yashasvi Jaiswal's dream run
Yashasvi Jaiswal became just the third Indian batter to smash back-to-back double centuries as he scored a sensational 214 in Rajkot. AB de Villiers hailed the youngster for picking the bones out of the England bowling attack and ensuring they were batted out of the contest.
On this, De Villiers stated:
"There are not enough words to witness. It is aggressive batting and just makes the game look so easy. I love watching him (Jaiswal) play and it seems like the pressure is always on the bowlers."
AB de Villiers has full faith that Yashasvi Jaiswal will score runs across conditions and against different oppositions away from home as well. In six innings so far in the series, Jaiswal has scored a staggering 545 runs at a mind-boggling average of 109.
England will need to keep him in check if they want to make a comeback in the fourth Test in Ranchi, which starts on Friday, February 23.