RAJKOT: Tears of joy were shed at the
Niranjan Shah Stadium
here on Thursday prior to the start of the third Test. After an arduous wait,
Sarfaraz Khan
was finally awarded his long-due India cap, becoming the 74th Mumbaikar to play Test cricket. The 26-year-old hugged his father Naushad tightly.
Naushad, in turn, broke down while kissing the cap, and Sarfaraz’s wife Romana too let the tears flow.
“They were tears of happiness. I’ve seen a lot, both moments of sadness and happiness, but never cried before. This was a moment when any father would have turned emotional,” Naushad told TOI. Naushad was initially reluctant to travel to Rajkot from Mumbai. However, it was a nudge from India’s T20 star Suryakumar Yadav which prompted him to book his ticket.
“I wasn’t too well and didn’t feel like coming to Rajkot. It was Surya who told me that I should be going to watch Sarfaraz’s
Test debut
, and not miss this moment, since it wouldn’t come again. He told me that his parents and wife too had come to the stadium for his Test debut. Since I booked a ticket at the last minute, my wife couldn’t come here,” Naushad said.
His father, who doubles up as his coach, means the world to Sarfaraz. “Runs and performances were not on my mind as much. I was happy playing for India in front of my father. He was not ready to come but some people insisted that he come here. He worked so hard only for this day. He was very emotional when I took the cap to him. So was my wife. I felt as if some pressure was off my shoulders, given the hard work he had put in on me. I did not waste it,” Sarfaraz said.
The way things transpired— his father coming to the ground, receiving the cap from India's leg spin great Anil Kumble and then smashing a stroke-filled half-century — 62 off 66 balls — it was indeed a dream come true for Sarfaraz, who termed it the "proudest moment" of his life.
"I really liked it… coming to the ground for the first time and getting the cap in front of my father. I was six years old when I started playing cricket. It was my dream to play for India in front of him. It was my
father's dream
to play for India but unfortunately it couldn't happen and there wasn't much support from home," says Sarfaraz.
The 204-run partnership between
Rohit Sharma
and Ravindra Jadeja before he came into bat meant that Sarfaraz had to wait for a long time with the pads on, but waiting for a long time for his maiden India cap has taught him the value of patience.
"I was padded for almost four hours. I kept thinking that I have kept so much patience in life and there is no harm in keeping some more. After I went in, I was nervous for the first few balls but I have practised and worked so hard that everything went well," said Sarfaraz. Sarfaraz's sparkling innings ended when he was run out after a misunderstanding with Ravindra Jadeja. "It is part of the game. Miscommunication happens in cricket," he said.
Jadeja was seen constantly talking to Sarfaraz during their partnership. "I spoke to him at lunch time and told him to talk to me while playing. I like talking while playing. It was my first time also. So, I told him that when I come out to bat, keep talking to me," revealed Sarfaraz.
In no match/series does Sarfaraz go without preparing for the challenge under the watchful eyes of his father, back in Mumbai. "Last Friday, just before making his Test debut here, I had kept 'match simulation' in a day-long camp for him at Islam Gymkhana. We practised on a flat and turning pitch, against Mumbai's local bowlers," Naushad explained.
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