Former India batter Aakash Chopra has backed Sarfaraz Khan to replace the injured KL Rahul in India’s second Test against England. Rohit Sharma’s men are set to take on England at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium at Vizag on February 2.
Sarfaraz earned his maiden Test call-up following injuries to Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul, which ruled the two players out of the second Test in Vizag. The BCCI announced Sarfaraz, spinner Sourabh Kumar and all-rounder Washington Sundar as their replacements.
Speaking on his Youtube channel, Chopra said Sarfaraz can play in an unorthodox fashion and is a very good player of spin, while backing the Mumbai-based batter to make his debut for India in Vizag.
“Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar are available with this team. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli are still not there.They will have to play either Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz. You can go towards Sarfaraz because he can play in an unorthodox fashion and is a very good player of spin,” said Chopra.
Sarfaraz has been in great form lately, smashing a phenomenal century against England Lions in a tour game for India A. The 26-year-old, who has a first-class average of 69.85, scored 161 runs off 160 balls, smashing 18 boundaries and five sixes. He was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’ as India A beat England Lions by an innings and 16 runs in Ahmedabad.
Talking about Rahul, Chopra said injuries have been the biggest problem in the wicket-keeping batter’s career, insisting that he looked assured in both the innings against England. Rahul scored 86 runs in the first innings and 22 runs in the second as India failed to chase down 231 runs on Day 4.
“This has been the biggest problem in KL Rahul’s career. Injuries or illnesses have come at the wrong time and they have come many a time. The way he played in the first innings, and to be fair, he was batting assuredly in the second innings as well. There are very few people in our team who play the sweep. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul play the sweep, and KL Rahul will now not be there in this game,” Chopra added.
