☰

Imam-ul-Haq congratulates Sarfaraz Khan on India Test call-up

The 26-year-old had been constantly knocking on the doors for India selection

By Web Desk

January 29, 2024

Imam and Sarfaraz have faced each other before in the 2014 U19 World Cup match in Dubai - PCB/Press Trust of India

Uncapped batter Sarfaraz Khan has been included in India's Test team for the second match against England starting February 2 in Visakhapatnam.

The 26-year-old had been constantly knocking on the doors for selection since he has amassed 3912 runs at an average of 69.85 in 45 first-class matches. He has hit 14 centuries and 11 fifties.

On his inclusion, Pakistan batter Imam-ul-Haq sent a congratulatory message to the Indian batter. "Congratulations brother, So happy for you," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter)

It must be noted that Imam and Sarfaraz have faced each other before in the 2014 U19 World Cup match in Dubai.

Earlier, Indian received a double blow after Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul were ruled out of the second Test.

Jadeja sustained a hamstring injury on the fourth day of the first Test while Rahul felt discomfort in his right quadriceps, confirmed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a statement.

BCCI announced they are adding Sarfaraz, Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar.

India's squad for second Test against England

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar.

England recorded a remarkable 28-run win in the first Test in Hyderabad as they made an excellent comeback from a certain defeat.

After a poor performance on the first two days, England made a stunning comeback later in the game as they not only made things difficult for Indians with the bat but also bundled them out for just 202 runs during their chase of a 231-run target in the last innings.

Debutant Tom Hartley wreaked havoc with the ball as he clinched seven for 62 runs and guided England to a hard-fought win.

That was the first time India lost a Test match at home after taking a 100+ runs lead.

England became the first visiting team to score 400+ runs in the third innings against India. The previous team to do this was England as well as they scored 406 in Ahmedabad in 2012.