India vs New Zealand Day 4: Sarfaraz Khan slams maiden Test hundred

BENGALURU: Sarfaraz Khan carried forward his prolific domestic form on to the international area, notching up his maiden ton in his fourth Test match on day four of the first Test against New Zealand, here on Saturday.

That it came on the back of a duck in the first innings made it special, so did the spirited fightback with the team pushed to a corner because of the terrible display with the bat that saw them collapse to a meagre 46 runs.

Coming in as the replacement for the injured Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz walked in to bat at No 4, a position that he has never played. He was one among the five ducks in the first innings of India’s play, but he was a different player in the second innings, playing a sensational knock to keep India in the hunt.

Khan played aggressively, and reached the three-figure mark with a lovely back-foot punch through deep covers. Understandably elated over the achievement after years of toiling to get into the squad, he ran across the field holding both his helmet and bat afloat. He struck 15 fours and 3 sixes so far.

The runs came flooding from the Mumbaikar’s bat, especially in the third man region where the batter has scored most runs in his innings.

Earlier this month, he also slammed a double century in the Irani Cup for Mumbai against Rest of India.

Meanwhile, his partner in the middle is Rishab Pant, who is matching Khan in aggression and intent.