Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan was spotted leaving the training session early after being hit on his elbow ahead of the first Test against Australia at Perth from November 22 onwards. In a training clip posted by Fox Cricket, Sarfaraz was seen walking off after the session when he was hit on his right elbow while batting. Team India is practicing in Perth’s Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground for the series, having landed Down Under in two batches a few days back. As per Wisden, Sarfaraz faces “no issues” with his elbow after the hit.
The 27-year-old is in contention to feature in the Perth Test at Optus Stadium, with skipper Rohit Sharma likely to miss out due to personal reasons. Other candidates for Sarfaraz’s spot in the middle-order is an experience KL Rahul and young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. Jurel impressed in the recently-concluded Australia A-India A series, scoring gutsy knocks of 80 and 68 during the second match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) under pressure situations.
After his exploits in first-class cricket, Sarfaraz made his international debut against England in a five-match home series, starting off his journey with back-to-back half-centuries. However since then, he has been inconsistent, managing a 150 against New Zealand at Bengaluru and just a fifty in his other seven innings.
In six Tests, Sarfaraz has scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10, with a century and three fifties in 11 innings and best score of 150.
The young batter is yet to play in Tests outside India and would be tested on fast, bouncy surfaces of Australia.
Sarfaraz is yet to play a Test outside India, and will be looking to address concerns around his ability to play on bouncy pitches.
The much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia kicks off on November 22, with the first Test at Perth. The second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.
The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series’ penultimate stage.
The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.
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