The most difficult shots in cricket are arguably those played straight over or around the set of stumps, and perhaps it is no coincidence that they are the most aesthetic to watch as well. Sarfaraz Khan added one of the finest examples of the same on Friday with a Sachin-esque uppercut for four.
India still had a tall mountain to climb when Sarfaraz Khan walked into bat at 95/2 in the second innings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium given they faced a huge first innigns deficit of 356 runs. However, with Virat Kohli gunning hard at the other end, the youngster proved to be unfazed under pressure and brought out a flurry of strokes to establish his authority on the game, including an awe-inspiring ramp over the keeper’s head in the 27th over.
Sarfaraz had already uppercut O’Rourke over point for a maximum a couple of deliveries earlier but the tall right-arm quick persisted with the short length with hopes of troubling the batter eventually with sharp bounce. He nearly made his plan work as the last ball of the over nipped back sharply after pitching to angle sharply towards Sarfaraz’ body and leave him in all sorts of bother. The Mumbai batter looked set to duck the red cherry at first but at the very last moment stuck his bat over his chest from a kneeling position with his knees nearly touching the ground. To the surprise of all, the SG hit the willow right at the sweet spot and flew over To Latham with aplomb all the way to the boundary.
Twitterati was ecstatic with the quality of the shot and took to social media to express their admiration.
What a shot boiii!!!!
Brilliant!
If Sarfaraz khan score Century I will give 1000 Rupees to everyone who likes the tweet 🙏🇮🇳.#INDvNZ #sarfarazkhan pic.twitter.com/DsQfx5juc8
— Ashish (@SirAshu2002) October 18, 2024
FIFTY BY SARFARAZ KHAN IN JUST 42 BALLS. 🤯
– Sarfaraz counterattacking fifty Vs New Zealand, what a knock! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6pQuyOlAAU— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 18, 2024
LOL!
That’s some flex!
Sarfaraz Khan special in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/PXer4CHI7A
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 18, 2024
Back to back sixes by Sarfaraz Khan. 😲 pic.twitter.com/YtBLA18XW9
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 18, 2024
Yeah!
Brilliant start!
Sarfaraz Khan off to a promising start. No better opportunity to prove himself in #INDvNZ.
pic.twitter.com/LAepyqlZA8— Vijay Singh (@VijaySikriwal) October 18, 2024
