"If you get match awareness when you have black hair, you can take advantage of it" - Ajay Jadeja lauds Sarfaraz Khan's century in IND vs NZ 1st Test

Ajay Jadeja has attributed Sarfaraz Khan's success in international cricket to his match awareness at a young age. He also praised the Mumbai batter for his hunger to play big knocks.

Sarfaraz scored 150 runs off 195 deliveries in India's second-innings total of 462 in the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 19. Despite his efforts, the Kiwis need only 107 runs, with all 10 wickets in hand, on Day 5 to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Jadeja noted that the match awareness Sarfaraz imbibed through his father holds him in good stead.

"His match awareness is the key and you spoke about his hunger. There was a list of his big scores, he was not out in four of those six knocks. So he is never satisfied with any number, and when someone doesn't get it easily, he doesn't leave it as well. His father has given his entire life to him and not only to him," he said.

"When I saw his father for the first time in 2007 or 2008, there were eight or nine other boys and he (Sarfaraz) was young. He used to put the same effort with them as well. So he has learned from their mistakes. You get match awareness when your hair become white. However, if you get match awareness when you have black hair, you can take advantage of it," the former India captain added.

Sarfaraz Khan walked out to bat when India were reduced to 95/2 at the fall of Rohit Sharma's wickets. He stitched together century partnerships with Virat Kohli (70 off 102) and Rishabh Pant (99 off 105) for the third and fourth wickets, respectively. His knock helped keep the hosts in the game.

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"There shouldn't be any questions about his ability" - Parthiv Patel on Sarfaraz Khan

In the same discussion, Parthiv Patel highlighted Sarfaraz Khan's excellent first-class record and noted that his ability can't be questioned.

"There shouldn't be any questions about his ability. If you have to pick a player for Test cricket, you judge him based on how he has performed in first-class cricket. He has an average of nearly 70 in first-class cricket, which is a lot. So he has scored runs everywhere and in every way," he said.

The former India wicketkeeper added that the unconventional batter has figured his way to score runs.

"His playing style is definitely different. You don't see most batters playing like this but you need to find your own way. In the end, how many runs you score or wickets you take is the only thing that matters. Sarfaraz knows how he scores runs, and he especially understands the situation in which he has gotten an opportunity to score runs," Patel observed.

Sarfaraz has amassed 350 runs at an average of 58.33 in four Tests. He had scored 4422 runs at an average of 69.09 in 51 first-class games before the ongoing Bengaluru Test.