Indian team's young batsman Sarfaraz Khan performed strongly in Bengaluru and scored the first century of his Test career. Sarfaraz, who came to bat at number four, saved the team from a difficult situation by making a century partnership with Virat Kohli. Even after Virat Kohli's wicket fell on the last ball on the third day of the match, Sarfaraz, along with Rishabh Pant, continued to play aggressively against the Kiwi bowlers on the fourth day of the match and scored his first century in 110 balls.
Sarfaraz joins the club of greats
On the basis of his century, Sarfaraz became the seventh Indian batsman to score a century at number four in this century. The names of Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Ajinkya Rahane are included in this list.
Got a chance to replace Gill
Sarfaraz has been included in the Indian team for this match in place of Shubman Gill, who is suffering from stiff neck. The 26-year-old made his Test debut against England in Rajkot this year. In the first innings of this Test against New Zealand, he returned to the pavilion without opening his account, but in the second innings he made a brilliant comeback and made a century partnership with Virat Kohli for the third wicket before returning to the pavilion. 70 runs were scored.
Sarfaraz's excellent average
This century is the 16th century of Sarfaraz's first-class career, this is the second consecutive match where he has scored a century with the bat. After missing the recently concluded Test series against Bangladesh, Sarfaraz made his mark by scoring a double century for Mumbai in the Irani Cup match against Rest of India in Lucknow earlier this month.
After this, Sarfaraz became the first Mumbai batsman to score a double century in the Irani Cup. Interestingly, Sarfaraz has scored more than half-centuries (14) in his career so far. Sarfaraz's first-class average of 69.56* in 52 matches is currently the highest among all active cricketers.