Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar praised young batter Sarfaraz Khan for his exceptional inning in the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand. He said that Sarfaraz’s performance was much better than any worries about his weight.
After working hard for many years in domestic cricket, Sarfaraz Khan finally earned a spot in the Indian Test team this year. He is arguably one of the best players in red-ball cricket on India’s domestic scene. His stats show that he has scored runs with an average of 70, playing for Mumbai which is a great achievement.
Because of fitness problems, Sarfaraz Khan couldn’t initially make the Indian Test team. But after joining, he has been living up to expectations and scoring runs regularly.
Sarfaraz Khan hit three half-centuries in his first series, and recently, he played his best Test match for the Indian team. The right-handed batter delivered an outstanding performance and scored 150 runs in the second inning. His ability to handle the pacers and spinners with ease caught much attention.
While praising Sarfaraz Khan, Sunil Gavaskar said that there are too many people in Indian cricket who think only players with slim waists should be selected. He mentioned that this was the reason Sarfaraz was kept out of the team for so many years.
According to a column that Sunil Gavaskar wrote for Sportsstar – “Sarfaraz’s returns on the field with the bat were even more prodigious than his waistline. Sadly, Indian cricket has had too many decision-makers with ideas that are hard to fathom.”
It further reads, “Sarfaraz Khan has been denied a place in the Indian team for some years, despite scoring runs by the hundreds in domestic cricket. This was largely because those in a position to make decisions believed he didn’t have the slim waist they deemed necessary for international cricket.”
Sunil Gavaskar also mentioned that Rishabh Pant is not slim either but he consistently performs well for the team. He highlighted how Pant runs on the field while wicketkeeping and suggested that Yoyo fitness tests should be removed.
Sunil Gavaskar said, “Rishabh Pant is another player who doesn’t possess the slim waist that these fitness purists seem to want, but what an impact player he is. Let’s not forget that he also keeps wickets all day, which not only requires getting up and down for around six hours of play but also running to the stumps to gather the throws. So, please discard these yoyo-yoyo tests and instead assess how strong a player is mentally.”
“Many people in India have this strange notion that a slim waist signifies a fit person. How often have we heard someone look at a slim-waisted individual and say how fit they are? Sports fitness doesn’t depend on slim waists alone. If the mind is strong, then physical fitness can largely be controlled by it,” he concluded.
In the match, team India was bundled out on 46 runs in the first inning. However, in the second inning, they tried to make a comeback with the century of Sarfaraz Khan(150), Rishabh Pant’s outstanding fifty(99), and the fifties of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While cruising towards the conclusion, New Zealand needed 107 runs to win the match and it looked a cakewalk for them to grab a win. They got this with 8 wickets in hand with Will Young and Rachin Ravindra at the crease. It was the first time in the last 36 years that New Zealand had managed to beat team India on their home turf.
The second match between India and New Zealand will be played from October 24 at Maharashtra Cricket Stadium, Pune.
