Sarfaraz Khan to debut in the third Test match between India and England© X (formerly Twitter)
It was a huge moment for Sarfaraz Khan as the 26-year-old batter was handed his debut ahead of the third Test match between India and England in Rajkot on Thursday. Sarfaraz enjoyed an exceptional run of form in the domestic circuit over the last couple of years and he was handed his Test cap by legendary spinner Anil Kumble just before the toss. With Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul all missing out, Sarfaraz will partner with Rajat Patidar and fellow debutant Dhruv Jurel in the middle order. Sarfaraz’s father was present at the ground and he could not control his tears during the ceremony.
India won the toss and elected to bat against England in the third Test of the five-match series.
“We’re going to bat first. We’ve made some changes, made four changes. Some injuries and some guys coming back from the last game. Two debutants. Siraj and Jadeja are back. Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar miss out. Looks a good pitch, better than the last two we’ve played on. Rajkot is known to be a good pitch but it’ll deteriorate as it goes. The guys have stood up and done the job for the team when it was needed. The next three Test matches will be as exciting as the first two. Need to keep our focus here and see how we can do well,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said at the toss.
The series is locked at 1-1 as England captain Ben Stokes is appearing in his 100th Test.
India handed debuts to middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan, a heavy scorer in domestic cricket for Mumbai, and young wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel, who will replace KS Bharat in the playing eleven.
England have brought back pacer Mark Wood in place of young spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman GillRajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra JadejaDhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, jasprit bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England: Zak Crawley, Ben DuckettOllie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny BairstowBen Stokes(c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom HartleyMark Wood, James Anderson.
(With PTI inputs)
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