Sarfaraz Khan's Father On Why He Became Emotional: 'Have Been Waiting for This Moment and Many Times I Thought of Crying'

Sarfaraz Khan’s father became emotional, shedding a tear or two as his eldest son made his India debut in the third Test of the five-match series against England at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, now known as Niranjan Shah Stadium, in Rajkot on Thursday.

The Mumbai batter was presented his Test cap legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble. As Kumble presented Sarfaraz with his Test cap at Rajkot, his father-cum-coach Naushad Khan was left emotional on seeing the scenes unfolding in front of his eyes. Visuals then showed Sarfaraz running with his Test cap across the boundary rope to show it to his father and wife, who watched the proceedings from the sidelines.

India vs England, 3rd Test Day 1 – LIVE

Sporting a ‘cricket is everyone’s game’ written on the back of the jacket, a visibly teary-eyed and proud Naushad hugged him with joy and kissed the Indian badge on the Test cap, even as Sarfaraz was wiping off the tears from his wife’s eyes.

“First of all, I want to thank the almighty who let me see the day. The tears are of happiness. I have been waiting for this moment and many times I thought of crying. But I was the father and also the coach and it would not have been good if I had cried. That’s why, I could not hold it today,” Naushad Khan said on JioCinema.

“Every coach and father has the belief that his son will one day play for the country. But the world believes only when he receives the cap. I never thought that it would always remain a dream. I knew that it would take time, have seen many. Some of them would get it early. Some would have to wait for long,” he added.

Sarfaraz Khan has been a prolific run-scorer in the last few years in domestic cricket for Mumbai and of late, got the big runs for India ‘A’ in their series against England Lions.

Despite scoring a truckload of runs, a Test debut eluded Sarfaraz on multiple occasions in the past. He got his maiden call-up to the Indian team when he was named in the squad for the second Test in Visakhapatnam after KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out due to injuries, but Rajat Patidar made his debut.

With Shreyas Iyer not included in the squad for the remaining three Tests and Rahul still recovering from a quadriceps injury, many tipped for Sarfaraz to make his debut. On Thursday, the dream came true for Sarfaraz as he was presented with his Test cap to become the 311th Test cricketer for India ahead of the start of the third Test against England.

“Really proud of you, the way you have come through. I am sure your dad and family are extremely proud of what you have achieved. I know you have done all the hard work. There were some disappointments but despite that all the runs that you’ve scored through the domestic season have brought you here.”

“Well done to you. I’m sure you will have lots of wonderful memories to make. It’s a start of a long career, only 310 people have played before you. All the best,” said Kumble to Sarfaraz in the speech before presenting him the Test cap.

In 45 first-class matches, Sarfaraz has made 3,912 runs at an astonishing average of 69.85, including 14 hundreds and 11 fifties. Last month, he made scores of 96, 4, 55 and 161 in the practice match and four-day games against England Lions at Ahmedabad.

During the first session’s play, Naushad was in the Hindi commentary box and was asked by Aakash Chopra if the wait for Sarfaraz’s first Test match was too long. He replied, “Raat ko waqt chahiye guzarne ke liye, Sooraj meri marzi se nahi nikalne waala (it takes time for the night to pass, the sun is not going to rise according to my wish).”

(With inputs from Agencies)