Sarfaraz Khan's father became emotional, kissed his son's test cap as his dream came true

Rajkot, 15 February. An emotional scene unfolded at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot ahead of the start of the third Test between India vs England as right-handed batsman Sarfaraz Khan received his Test cap from legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble.

As Kumble handed over the Test cap to Sarfaraz in Rajkot, his father-cum-coach Naushad Khan became emotional seeing the scenes unfolding before his eyes. Visuals then showed Sarfaraz running across the boundary line with his Test cap on to show it to his father and wife, who were watching the proceedings from the sidelines.

Cricket is everyone's game was written on the back of the jacket. Naushad had tears in his eyes and was feeling proud. Naushad happily hugged her and kissed the Indian badge on the Test cap, while Sarfaraz wiped tears from his wife's eyes.

Sarfaraz Khan has been a prolific run-scorer for Mumbai in domestic cricket over the past few years and recently he also scored big runs for India A in the series against England Lions.

Despite scoring a lot of runs, Sarfaraz had not been able to make his Test debut on many occasions before. He got his first chance in the Indian team when he was named in the squad for the second Test in Visakhapatnam after KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out due to injuries, but Rajat Patidar made his debut.

With Shreyas Iyer not included in the squad for the remaining three Test matches and Rahul still recovering from a quadriceps injury, many tipped Sarfaraz to make his debut. On Thursday, Sarfaraz's dream came true when he was awarded the Test cap to become the 311th Test cricketer for India ahead of the start of the third Test against England.

Really proud of you, the way you've moved forward. I'm sure your father and family are extremely proud of what you have achieved. I know you have worked hard. There were some disappointments but despite that, the runs you have scored in the domestic season have brought you here.

"Well done to you, I'm sure you will have a lot of wonderful memories to create," Kumble said in his speech before presenting Sarfaraz with his Test cap. This is the beginning of a long career, only 310 people have played before you. All the best.''

In 45 first-class matches, Sarfaraz has scored 3,912 runs at an astonishing average of 69.85, which includes 14 centuries and 11 fifties. Last month, he scored 96, 4, 55 and 161 in the practice match and four-day matches against England Lions in Ahmedabad.

During the first session of play, Naushad was in the Hindi commentary box and Aakash Chopra asked him if the wait for Sarfaraz's first Test match was too long. He replied, I need time to spend the night, the sun is not going to rise as per my wish.