Sarfaraz Khan speeds to Chennai to make his case for selection in 1st Test against Bangladesh with Team India

Sarfaraz Khan, the young batter, recently arrived in Chennai to join the Indian team for the upcoming Test match against Bangladesh. Despite participating in the second round of the Duleep Trophy match in Anantapur, Sarfaraz wasted no time and immediately traveled to Chennai to join the senior team. He joined them in training at Chepauk in preparation for the first Test match on September 19.

Sarfaraz was the only player from the Test squad who played the second round of match in the Duleep Trophy, as others, including Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Rishabh Pant, travelled to Chennai early after playing just one match, started training for the Bangladesh Test.

Meanwhile, Sarfaraz might miss out on a place in the playing XI for the opening Test as the team management is expected to back experienced KL Rahul in the middle-order.

The Indian team took part in their third training session at Chepauk as Virat Kohli was among the first set of batters to hit the nets. In the adjacent net was southpaw Yashasvi Jaiswal as both he and Kohli faced Jasprit Bumrah and home hero R Ashwin. The next set of batters included skipper Rohit, Shubman Gill and Sarfaraz Khan as the Indian captain focussed on playing the spinners to get ready for the Bangladesh spin attack.

After consistent performances in domestic cricket, Sarfaraz had to wait a long time to make his international debut. It was the injury crisis in the Indian camp during the England series earlier this year when Sarfaraz got his maiden call-up, and he made an instant impact in his debut series to announce his arrival on the big stage. The 26-year-old batter scored 200 runs in three Tests at an average of 50. However, he failed to impress in the Duleep Trophy matches and scored 70 runs in three matches, which pulled him down in the pecking order to get picked in the XI for the first Test.

India will have two more practice sessions scheduled before the series opener on Thursday against Bangladesh, who are riding on the confidence of their series sweep in Pakistan.