Ajay Jadeja and Aakash Chopra discuss Sarfaraz Khan's quirky wagon-wheel on Day 3 of first Test against NZ

It was a masterful exhibition of batting by Indian middle-order batter, Sarfaraz Khan, who looked extravagant during his innovative unbeaten 70-run knock, which came off only 78 deliveries. He was the perfect ally for ace batter, Virat Kohli, as they stitched a 136-run stand for the third wicket before the latter departed after nicking off a delivery from Glenn Philips to get dismissed on the final delivery of Day 3 of the ongoing Test between India and England at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

Former India cricketer, Ajay Jadeja, pointed out how differently Sarfaraz bats as compared to most other batters and also complimented his handling of the spinners in terms of utilizing the scoring arc in an unprecedented way.

“He is a different kind of player and it is a different era, and the approach has been like that. Fielders are not even put at third-man many times. In domestic cricket, they have understood his game but in international cricket, in the entire innings today, a fielder was placed there only in the end. He is a master against spin. He has grown up while playing spin. He plays with the spinners. He generally uses the pace and the wagon-wheel is evidence of that. His sixes go to midwicket, and the 'V' is behind. He coloured the areas that didn't used to be coloured earlier and left the areas that used to be coloured,” stated Jadeja during a discussion on Colors Cineplex.

Also Read: 'Sarfaraz Khan is 2024 version of Javed Miandad' - Sanjay Manjrekar 

This player doing well is a validation that Indian domestic cricket is very robust: Chopra

Cricketer-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra, was a part of the same discussion. Chopra remarked that Sarfaraz had found his formula to score runs, and extolled the Indian domestic circuit for churning out products such as him.

“You generally see a wagon-wheel square when the pitch is a rank-turner. However, his playing style is like that. You have to find a way for yourself to score runs. There are different ways to reach a mountain top. Everyone has to reach there, and he has found his way. This player doing well is a validation that Indian domestic cricket is very robust. It is sending players after preparing them. Ajaz Patel took 10 wickets in Mumbai, but it didn't matter to him. It was in his mind that he could play bowlers like Ajaz. He didn't have any tension,” observed Chopra.

Also Read: India vs New Zealand 1st Test, Day 3 Stats Review: Most runs by an Indian in Test cricket and other stats

Three of Sarfaraz's fours coupled with one maximum came through the third-man region as he batted through the day looking hungry for runs through whichever way or form. India currently have a deficit of 125 runs to negate before thinking of the target they would want the Kiwis to chase down.