Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan scored his maiden Test century as India continue to pin their hopes on the No. 4 to pull off a stunner at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, reports Hindustan Times.
After being folded for a historic low of just 46 in the first innings of the opening Test match against New Zealand, Sarfaraz's knock saw India steer past the 250-run mark and reduce the first-innings lead to less than 100 after New Zealand posted 406 on Day 3 of the match.
India were most likely to retain their winning line-up from the Bangladesh series last month, which could have seen Sarfaraz warm the bench yet again, despite having scored three fifties in five innings in his debut Test series earlier this year, against England.
A chance opportunity opened up for Sarfaraz in the opening Test match of the three-game series at home against the Kiwis. But KL Rahul return to the format, implied that the management were more likely to back the experienced batter, especially with India preparing for the all-important tour of Australia later this year.
However, with Shubman Gill suffering a stiff neck on the eve of the Bengaluru opener against Tom Latham's men, Sarfaraz, who smashed a record knock of 222 in the Irani Cup earlier this month, was drafted as a No. 4.
Sarfaraz did fail in the opening innings, scoring a duck, but roared back as the Chinnaswamy track began to ease out for the batters.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
