Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan make Test debuts in Rajkot, India decide to bat

Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan make Test debuts in Rajkot, India decide to bat

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Feb 15, 2024 - 10:40
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Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan make Test debuts in Rajkot, India decide to bat
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Anil Kumble and Dinesh Karthik handed out Test cap No 311 and 312 to Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel in Rajkot on Thursday. Both the players were in line to come into the Indian cricket team for the third Test against England.

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To make the moment even more special for Sarfaraz, his father and coach Naushad Khan was brought in near the sidelines as Kumble handed the Mumbai batter the cap. Naushad got emotional during the milestone moment and the proud father shed a tear.

While Kumble handed out the Test cap to Sarfaraz, wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik did the honours for Dhruv Jurel while Team India formed a huddle ahead of the Test with the series locked at 1-1.

Sarfaraz had been knocking on the doors of the Indian cricket team entry for some time now with explosive record in Ranji Trophy. In 45 first-class matches, Sarfaraz has collected 3912 runs at a staggering average of 69.85. He scored 14 hundreds and 11 fifties during this time and also impressed for the India ‘A’ side against England Lions.

For India ‘A’, Sarfaraz scored a fifty in the first unofficial Test and followed it up with an impressive 161 in the second.

Sarfaraz had been brought into the squad ahead of the second Test but didn’t make an appearance as Rajat Patidar got the nod for an inclusion into the playing XI.

The absence of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul from the third Test has forced the selectors into going for a young middle-order in Rajkot.

As Jurel comes into the Test side, having already made his India debut in the T20I format, it means KS Bharat sits out. Bharat made a couple of noticeable mistakes as stumper and failed to convert his starts into a sizeable knock with the bat.

In other team news, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj have returned into the playing XI for India. With the duo coming back into the lineup, Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar have been pushed out. For England, as had already been revealed on Wednesday, Mark Wood has come in with Shoaib Bashir sitting out.

At the toss, Rohit Sharma made the right call and India decided to bat. The five-match Test series stands at 1-1 with England winning the opener in Hyderabad and the hosts roared back in Visakhapatnam.

Rohit said, “We’ve made four changes. Some injuries, some guys coming back. Two debutants: Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan. Siraj and Jadeja are back. Axar and Mukesh miss out.

“Good pitch, better than the last two ones we played in. We know Rajkot is supposed to be a good pitch, will behave differently as the game goes on. Good toss to win.

“We played well as a group. Guys stood up when they had to last game. The next three games will be as exciting as the first two. You can’t keep the bigger picture in mind. We’ll have to keep focus on what we can do here and come out on top,” he added.

England captain Ben Stokes said they’d have batted too. Playing his 100th Test match, he said, “Time does fly when you’re having fun. Series in nicely balanced, it’s a fair reflection of both teams. We’re happy with how things have gone. It’s been a nice break which helped us refresh. There was no cricket, we got the families out in Dubai. Cricket can be physically and mentally demanding, so it was a great opportunity to get away from cricket and get the feet up.

“The great thing about Test matches is there are so many moments where things can change and India came out on top,” while speaking about the previous clash.

India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson

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