Sarfaraz Khan creates History, joins Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in THIS elite list

New Delhi: India is currently facing New Zealand in the first Test of the three-match series at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After being bowled out for just 46 in their first innings, the Indian batting lineup has displayed resilience in their second innings. Leading the charge in pursuit of a challenging 356-run target is Sarfaraz Khan, who secured his spot in the playing XI due to Shubman Gill’s injury. Making the most of this opportunity, Sarfaraz has notched up his maiden Test century.

In the first innings of the match, Sarfaraz Khan was dismissed for a duck. However, he redeemed himself in the second innings by scoring a stunning century off just 110 balls, boasting a strike rate of over 90. With this remarkable achievement, he becomes the ninth Indian to score a century in the second innings after being dismissed for zero in the first innings of a Test match. Sarfaraz joins an elite list that includes legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virat Kohli.

Here are the players to score a duck in the first innings and a century in the second innings of the same Test Match:

Madhav Apte- 0 and 163 (Vs West Indies, 1953)
Sunil Gavaskar- 0 and 118 (vs Australia, 1977)
Dilip Vengsarkar- 0 and 103 (vs England, 1979)
Mohammad Azharuddin- 0 and 109 (vs Pakistan, 1989)
Sachin Tendulkar- 0 and 136 (Vs Pakistan, 1999)
Shikhar Dhawan- 0 and 114 (Vs New Zealand, 2014)
Virat Kohli- 0 and 104 (vs Sri Lanka, 2017)
Shubman Gill- 0 and 119 (vs Bangladesh, 2024)
Sarfaraz Khan- 0 and 114* (vs New Zealand, 2024)

In a post-play interaction on Day 2, India captain Rohit Sharma expressed that the team intended to play Sarfaraz Khan in his usual position in the middle or lower-middle order, specifically at numbers 4, 5, or 6. Although there were suggestions to promote KL Rahul to number 3 due to Shubman Gill’s absence, Rohit clarified that they preferred to maintain the existing batting order for both Rahul and Rishabh Pant. As a result, Virat Kohli was elevated to the number 3 position.

“We wanted to give Sarfraz the position that he usually bats four, five, six maybe. But we didn’t want to change Rishabh and KL (Rahul). Hence, Sarfraz went at four and Virat batted at three,” Rohit said.