I have played with Sarfaraz Khan's father when I was young: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma recently revealed that he had played alongside Sarfaraz Khan's father during his younger days.

The Indian team recently defeated England 4-1 in a five-match Test series at home after losing the first encounter in Hyderabad. During the series, India were handicapped by injuries to some of their key players like KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammed Shami, while Virat Kohli opted out due to personal reasons. The former India captain was blessed with a baby boy during the series.

In the absence of these established players, several youngsters got the opportunity to prove themselves on the big stage. Five players - Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, and Devdutt Padikkal made their debuts during the series. Except for Patidar, all the other debutants made their presence felt at various stages in the series.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma and the team management deserve a lot of credit for backing the youngsters against an experienced England team.  The 36-year-old featured in all five matches and led from the front. He recently opened up about his experience of playing alongside the youngsters.

“I was just lost in their debuts. I was enjoying their debuts so much because their parents were there. There was so much emotion,” Rohit said on Team Ro.

One of the much-awaited debuts was that of Sarfaraz, who had been scoring truckloads of runs in domestic cricket but was somehow missing out on his national selection. However, when his chance came, he grabbed it with both hands, registering three fifties in five innings against the Three Lions.

When Sarfaraz received his India cap from the legendary Anil Kumble ahead of the third Test in Rajkot, his father and wife were present at the venue. Rohit revealed that he had played alongside Sarfaraz's father, Naushad Khan, during his younger days.

“I have played with Sarfaraz’s father in Kanga league when I was very young. His father was a left handed batter. He was an aggressive player and very well known in Mumbai cricket circles. I wanted to acknowledge his effort and hard work that had paid off with his son playing for India. I just wanted to tell him that his son’s Test cap belongs as much to him as his son,” Rohit said.

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The way the youngsters responded to me and Rahul bhai was superb: Rohit Sharma

Rohit also went on to say that he enjoyed playing with the youngsters and applauded them for how they responded to him and head coach Rahul Dravid.

“I really enjoyed playing with the youngsters. All of them are very mischievous. I knew most of them well and what their strengths are and how do they want to play the game. It was just me talking to them about how good they are and the good things they have done in the past. The way they responded to me and Rahul bhai was superb,” he said.