Sarfaraz-Pant's rise redefines India Test batting

Bengaluru: Prithvi Shaw recently recalled telling his teammates in the Mumbai dressing room to put their feet up when Sarfaraz Khan crossed the 50-mark in the Irani Cup. Sarfaraz went on to score 221*. It took him four Test matches to get there, but the Mumbai run machine's first 150 score in international cricket on Saturday added to his stack of 10 previous 150 or more scores in first-class cricket, three of them over 200 with a triple -Hundred.

Hailing from Mumbai, a city that remains an assembly line for the delivery of Indian pasta, Sarfaraz is a worthy addition. But as you could tell from many of his 18 fours and three sixes, he does it his way. The international success of batsmen like Sarfaraz and Rishabh Pant – from a Delhi school that also produced the Virender Sehwag style – is testament to this the emergence of diverse hitting styles like never before. They have access to scoring areas of the field that are normally avoided, especially in Test cricket.

Sarfaraz took a cue from the Kiwi bowlers on Saturday morning and continued his slices and glides despite the presence of a fly slip. Or Pant, whose reaction to New Zealand putting the keeper up to speed to stop him getting out was to find another way to score – steering him towards the boundaries in the third man area. As the ramps and upper cuts played by Sarfaraz on Day 3 showed, accessing the reverse V is as much a scoring option for these batters as it is in T20s.

“The late cuts between the wicketkeeper and first slip were always there. But scoring over the keeper like Sarfaraz and Pant manage to do is just great to see. As a spectator, it takes you to your feet,” said Sunil Gavaskar, who climbed to the top of the bat with exemplary technique. “There were orthodox cricketers. In the case of Sarfaraz, his unique style is refreshing. There’s a certain cheekiness and innovation to his batting.”

This approach has been compared by many to the great Pakistani Javed Miandad. Gavaskar, who played against Miandad a lot, said the comparison came down to game awareness and being aware of where the fielders were. “Even when he has no boundaries, Sarfaraz tries to achieve singles and pairs competitions by finding the gaps. This is similar to Miandad,” he said.

Sarfaraz and Pant's goals can be disruptive for the opposition but they are fully aware of their strengths and limitations. William O'Rourke's rising ball, which caught the outside edge of KL Rahul, would probably have been shot over by Sarfaraz over the keeper.

“I’m used to playing on bouncy wickets in my garden. That's why I enjoy playing against big bowlers. Most of the time they were just before bowling for me. That’s why I played in the third man section,” Sarfaraz explained.

Is playing against a six-foot international fast bowler the same as playing backyard cricket? This is also a measure of the trust in the new generation of players.

“If they had bowled full, I would have scored straight away. I just kept hitting. I didn’t think about where the runs would come,” Sarfaraz said when asked if he didn’t score enough in the V.

If Sarfaraz and Pant could wreak havoc in a 177-run stand for over three hours and promised to turn the Test around, it was an effective blow to the hilt. Pant would greet Rachin Ravindra's left-arm delivery with a reverse swing against spin. Sarfaraz would sweep Ajaz Patel with the paddle almost half blinded and still cross the fine leg boundary as intended. Even the bowler smiled admiringly.

Sarfaraz's runs and Suryakumar Yadav's belated success in India may warrant a redefinition of Mumbai's batting philosophy, referred to as 'Khadoos'.

“The Mumbai batting style was about being effective and not giving it away. That was “Khadoos”. The way Sarfaraz fought, he internalized that,” said Gavaskar. “While Mumbai batters used to be more orthodox and rely on the technical style, Sarfaraz has shown that runs can be scored in any way and still be attractive and entertaining to watch.”

“I think Gill and Kohli at 3-4 and Rishabh-Sarfaraz at 5-6, the bowlers of the world will be scratching their heads and going bald very quickly. They have the first four to score runs and are followed by Pant and Sarfaraz who make fun of the bowlers with little glides, ramps and reverse sweeps. As a viewer, I’m really looking forward to more of these partnerships,” said Gavaskar.