Sarfaraz makes his childhood dream come true with a ton for India

BENGALURU: India’s Sarfaraz Khan was a picture of gloom after his first innings against New Zealand faded in a Test in which he played alone due to Shubman Gill’s stiff neck, but the burly batsman redeemed himself with a maiden century in the second innings on Saturday.

Just four matches into a promising Test career, the 26-year-old made a stunning 150 on day four of the rain-interrupted series opener and added a fourth-wicket stand of 177 runs with Rishabh Pant (99) to boost India’s hopes. of a comeback victory.

“It felt great. I was happy with my maiden century. It was a childhood dream of mine to play for India and score a century,” Sarfaraz told reporters.

Sarfaraz, a run machine in domestic cricket who scored an unbeaten 222 in a first-class match for Mumbai this month, said he enjoyed batting with an attacking partner like Pant as the duo put New Zealand to the sword with unconventional shots put.

“The runs are starting to flow from both sides. I tried to give Pant the strike while the left-arm spinners were bowling as I knew he would hit them out, creating pressure for the bowlers from both sides as I continued the pace attack countered Good.

“We just planned to play attacking cricket. In our Duleep Trophy game a while back, we had a similar scenario where we had to counter-attack in the second innings. That’s the thought process.”

Sarfaraz was often teased online for his large frame and had no trouble scoring singles during the 291 minutes he spent in the middle, although there was a moment when Pant’s exuberance almost ran out.

Appealing for two runs after momentarily forgetting that Pant had suffered a knee injury two days earlier, Sarfaraz jumped up and down and shouted to prevent his batting partner from leaving.

“There was a discussion that we need to have carefully,” Sarfaraz added.

“After playing a late cut, I called for two, but realized he has a knee injury and wouldn’t be able to run fast. I immediately said ‘no’ and raised my hand after the first run, but he kept running without That is the cause of the wrong assessment.”

India collapsed after the duo departed to finish on 462, setting New Zealand at a victory target of 107, but Sarfaraz said batting on the final morning would not be easy.

“I don’t think the game is out of our hands yet,” he said. “The ball is still cutting in and out. If we manage to get two to three of their wickets early on, they will suffer the same fate as us.”