Sarfaraz Khan’s father, Naushad, delivered an emotional and heartfelt message to him and his brother Musheer after the former was called up to join the Indian Test squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka as a replacement for an injured Sai Sudharsan.
Sarfaraz last represented India against New Zealand in November 2024, a series in which India suffered their first home series loss in 12 years and their first-ever Test series whitewash at home.
Sarfaraz had made his Test debut earlier that year against England. He was also part of India’s team for the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia but didn’t feature in any of the five games.
Across six Tests and 11 innings for India, Sarfaraz has scored 371 runs at an average of 37.1, including
one hundred and three half-centuries. His highest score is 150.
“Bhale nikla hai kai raato ke baad suraj, bhale nikla hai kai raato ke baad, lekin mehnat ko milta hai hamesha kismat ka saath (The sun may have risen after many nights, but destiny favours hard work),” Naushad said.
Sarfaraz has joined the Indian team camp ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, starting on Saturday, August 15. He was called up as Sudharsan’s replacement after the latter was ruled out of the two-match series because of injury.
Sarfaraz’s brilliant performances earned him a Rs 75 lakh contract with the Chennai Super Kings and he enjoyed a decent campaign, scoring 161 runs in seven innings at an average of 23 and a strike rate of almost 170, including a fifty.
Sarfaraz heads into the Sri Lanka series after featuring for Aakash Tigers MWS in the Mumbai T20 League, where he scored 161 runs in five innings at an average of 32.2 and a brilliant strike rate of 214.67, including a half-century.
