The Story Behind Sarfaraz Khan Picking 97 As His Jersey Number Is Beautiful

Sarfaraz Khan is a 26-year-old Indian International cricketer who displayed a strong performance in the Indian domestic circuit for Mumbai. At Rajkot, he finally got his much-deserved debut Test cap against England in the 3rd T20I. Sarfaraz has represented India in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in the years 2014 and 2016. But Sarfaraz’s Test debut had been anticipated for a long time as the right-hander has been scoring massive runs in test matches over the past three seasons.

In 45 first-class matches, he has recorded 14 centuries and 11 fifties and averages a whopping 69.85. Among batters with a minimum of 50 first-class innings, after Don Bradman’s (95.1) and Vijay Merchant’s (71.6) average, Sarfaraz’s average of 69.85 is the third highest.

Sarfaraz Khan made his Test debut

In the presence of his father Naushad Khan, Indian legend Anil Kumble presented Sarfaraz Khan with his debut Test cap with number 311. Sarfaraz’s father has been his coach all along and he has made a lot of sacrifices to allow all his three sons to pursue the dream of playing cricket.

The 52-year-old Naushad Khan became teary-eyed as Sarfaraz received his Test cap and kissed it. It was a touching moment for the family that was felt in the stadium.

Why Sarfaraz Khan picked jersey number 97?

Sarfaraz and his brother Musheer both wear the jersey number 97. Sarfaraz picked jersey number 97 as a tribute to their father Naushad Khan. Their father Naushad Khan is a cricket coach who has trained him and his brothers from their childhood.

The jersey number 97 has the digits 9, which is spelled ‘Nau’ in Hindi, and 7, which is spelled ‘Saat’ in Hindi, together make the word Naushad which is their father’s name.

Sarfaraz shared the picture of his new Test jersey with number 97 on his Instagram story

From the Rajkot Test, Shreyas Iyer was dropped and once KL Rahul was ruled out it was evident that Sarfaraz would get to make his Test debut.

The teams:

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dhruv Jurel(w), Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Jonny Bairstow, Rehan Ahmed, Mark Wood, Tom Hartley, James Anderson.