It was an emotional morning for the Khan family present in Rajkot on Thursday, when the proud son of the family,
Sarfaraz Khan
, received his
India debut
cap ahead of toss in the third Test against England, with his father and wife standing on the sidelines, watching the ceremony with tears in their eyes.
Fulfilling his dream of representing the country, the prolific middle-order batsman from Mumbai received the debut Test cap from bowling legend Anil Kumble.
And as the camera on live broadcast panned to Sarfaraz's father, Naushad Khan, and his wife, they could be seen in tears.
After the ceremony, Sarfaraz went to his emotional father and hugged him, fondly showing his father and wife the Test cap. He was then seen wiping his wife's tears before hugging her.
Sarfaraz has been consistently scoring runs for Mumbai in domestic cricket, and his recent knocks for India A against England Lions paved way for his inclusion in the team after KL Rahul got injured before the second Test. However, he had to wait for his chance, which came in the third Test once Rahul remained unavailable for selection,
His four innings against the England Lions read 96, 4, 55 and 161.
Also making his debut in the match is wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, who replaced KS Bharat.
(Sarfaraz hugging his father, Naushad Khan)
“Really proud of you, the way you have come through. I am sure your dad and family are extremely proud of what you have achieved. I know you have done all the hard work. There were some disappointments but despite that all the runs that you've scored through the domestic season have brought you here,” Kumble said to Sarfaraz while presenting him with the cap.
“Well done to you. I'm sure you will have lots of wonderful memories to make. It's a start of a long career, only 310 people have played before you. All the best,” the spin legend added.
(Sarfaraz's father, Naushad Khan - ANI Photo)
Sarfaraz's father was later also invited to the Hindi commentary box.
In 45 first-class matches, Sarfaraz, who is the 311th Test player for India, has scored 3,912 runs at spectacular average of 69.85, including 14 hundreds and 11 fifties.
(With ANI inputs)
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