After playing an additional match in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, Sarfaraz Khan joined the team at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Monday ahead of India’s first Test against Bangladesh, beginning from Thursday.
While the likes of Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and K.L. Rahul, amongst others, joined the national camp after the squad for the upcoming two-match Test series was announced following the first round of Duleep Trophy matches, Sarfaraz was reportedly asked by the selectors to play an extra game, in which he managed 16 as India B conceded the first-innings lead to India C.
With Sarfaraz joining the camp later than his teammates, it is likely Rahul will get the nod ahead of the 26-year-old for the middle-order role in the first Test. Rahul, who has been selected as a specialist batter for the series, is coming off scores of 37 and 57 in India A’s defeat to India B in the first round of the Duleep Trophy and returns to the Test team after being ruled out of the series against England earlier this year following a quadricep injury in the first Test in Hyderabad.
Sarfaraz had filled in for Rahul in that series, making his debut at Rajkot in the third Test and scoring 200 runs in five innings at an average of 50. That led to him being one of the three debutants from that series to be retained in the Test squad for the Bangladesh series – Akash Deep and Dhruv Jurel being the others.
Though Sarfaraz’s much-awaited international debut was met with accolades, the prolific run-scorer on the domestic circuit may have to wait a little bit longer before donning the whites for India again as seniors Rahul and Virat Kohli return to the longest format ahead of a long season.
Source Agencies
