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Sarfaraz Khan‘s long wait for a maiden call-up to the Indian team ended on Monday after KL Rahul was ruled out of the second Test match against England, which begins on February 2 at the Dr. Y.S.Rajashekar Reddy ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Rahul, who scored a valiant 86 off 123 in India’s forgettable loss in Hyderabad last week, complained of right quadriceps pain, as revealed in a BCCI release.

Sarfaraz Khan has been added to India squad for 2nd Test against England(PTI)
Sarfaraz Khan has been added to India squad for 2nd Test against England(PTI)

Sarfaraz’s selection comes on the back of a stellar show for India in the four-day unofficial Test match against England Lions at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where he scored 161 off 166, laced with 18 fours and 5 sixes. He was named the Player of the Match for his performance as India A won by 16 runs.

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The 26-year-old has constantly been knocking at the selectors’ doors over the last few seasons with his prolific first-class returns. In 45 red-ball matches in his career, Sarfaraz has amassed 3912 runs at an average of 69.85, 14 centuries and 11 fifties. His tally includes a fabulous 2019/20 season in the Ranji Trophy, where he plundered 928 runs and averaged 154.66 to become the tournament’s fifth-highest run-getter, before following it up 982 runs at an average of 122.75 for Mumbai in the 2022/23 season.

Mumbai teammate Suryakumar Yadav was among the first India cricketers to congratulate Sarfaraz on his maiden international call-up. He shared an Instagram story moments after the announcement, bearing the picture of the two, and captioned it: “Happiest here. Man India call up. Utsav ki taiyaarrii karo.” Sarfaraz reposted it on his Instagram handle and added a background music ‘Aashayein‘, from the popular Bollywood movie Iqbal.

Sarfaraz Khan's reaction on maiden India call-up for England Tests
Sarfaraz Khan’s reaction on maiden India call-up for England Tests

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has also been ruled out of the Test match after he suffered a hamstring injury on the fourth day of the first Test in Hyderabad. The selectors hence added two more players to the list – left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar, who was also part of the aforementioned India A game, and allrounder Washington Sundar.

With Rahul out, Shreyas Iyer is more likely to take his No. 4 spot, but one between Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz will be picked for the No. 5 position. Captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid could also opt for both if India replace Jadeja with Kuldeep Yadav.

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