NEW DELHI: Cricketing icons Yuvraj Singh and David Warner lavished praise on Sarfaraz Khan for his valiant display with the bat which rescued India from a dire situation in the opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru.
The stars aligned for Sarfaraz after he floundered in his debut Test inning. By catching the lower half of the bat, Devon Conway with ‘Superman’ instincts, momentarily caught the flight and completed a sensational catch to send Sarfaraz back for a three-ball duck.
With India seemingly looking down and out, Sarfaraz stepped up to lead the charge. After the opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal provided a swashbuckling start, Sarfaraz carried the momentum with stalwart Virat Kohli.
He went on to score his maiden century in the Test colours for India and stayed unbeaten with a 125-run knock. By maintaining a sound balance with the bat and ball Sarfaraz earned plaudits from all over the world.
Yuvraj took to Instagram and wrote a special message for the 26-year-old and wrote, “Well deserved maiden ton a composed and determined effort to build this innings under pressure.”
Warner also joined in to congratulate Sarfaraz for his herculean effort and wrote, “So much hard work. Awesome to see this.”
The 136-run partnership that Sarfaraz forged with Kohli was brought to an end on the final ball of Day 3. Glenn Phillips extracted an extra bounce that did the trick for New Zealand.
Sarfaraz joined hands with Rishabh Pant and began India’s quest without wasting time to reduce the massive 125-run run trail. In the second over of the day, he went after William ORourke and smashed him for two boundaries with audacious attempts.
The partnership kept growing stronger, with Sarfaraz heavily relying on late cuts to pile up runs on the board. With pacers proving to be fruitless with each passing over, Sarfaraz took a single and completed his century. The moment he finished the single, Sarfaraz yelled and punched the air in ecstacy to celebrate the landmark moment. (ANI)