Rajkot: Naushad Khan wasn’t ready to travel to Rajkot to see his son, Sarfaraz Khan, make his Test debut for India against England on Thursday. But it was one message from Sarfaraz’s Mumbai teammate Suryakumar Yadav that changed Naushad’s mind as he along with his daughter-in-law took the flight to Rajkot to see his dream come true in front of his eyes. Tears rolled down from Naushad’s eyes as Sarfaraz got the coveted Test cap from Anil Kumble.
Sarfaraz ended up making a strokeful 62 on debut. It could have been a different innings alltogether had the 26-year-old not been a victim of a miss-communication with centurion Ravindra Jadeja. Naushad revealed on the sidelines of the game that a message from Suryakumar convinced him to travel to Rajkot.
“Initially, I thought I wouldn’t come as that would put Sarfaraz in some kind of pressure, and apart from that I also had a bit of a cold. But Surya’s message almost made me melt,” he said. Naushad read out the message from India’s best T20 batter.
“I do understand your emotions. But trust me, when I made my Test debut (last year in March against Australia in Nagpur) and was receiving my Test cap, my father and mother were just behind. And that moment was something beyond special. These moments don’t come too often.
“So I would suggest that you must go,” those were the words from Suryakumar. Having received such a message, Naushad made arrangements to travel to Rajkot. “After this message from Surya, I couldn’t stop myself from coming. Just took a pill and came here yesterday,” he said.
The 26-year-old stated runs and performances did not matter to him as much as playing for India with his father there to watch him. “It was my father’s dream to play for India but unfortunately it couldn’t happen due to some reasons, there wasn’t much support from home then. He worked very hard on me and is now doing the same with my brother. It was the proudest moment of my life,” he said.
“Runs and performances were not on my mind as much as I was happy playing for India in front of my father,” he added. “He was not ready to come (to Rajkot) but some people insisted that he goes. Obviously he had to come over since he worked so hard only for this day.”
“He was very emotional as I took the cap in front of him and so was my wife. I felt as if some pressure was off my shoulders given the hard work he had put in on me and I did not waste it,” he stated emotions still raw after a whirlwind day.
With PTI Inputs
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