After Sarfaraz Khan lit up the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to score his maiden Test hundred against New Zealand earlier this year, there have been calls to take the young batting star for the upcoming Australian tour, later this November. But one former Australian star sees a major flaw in the youngster’s batting technique, which could prove to be a hindrance in pace-friendly conditions.
Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg was speaking on his YouTube channel regarding Sarfaraz’s display in the opening Test. He praised the youngster’s knock of 150 against New Zealand, where he took advantage of the fielders to play his shots and also remained cautious against the spinners.
“Sarfaraz Khan, I really like this young kid, the way he was driving off the back foot against the quick bowlers, cutting and manipulating the deep field and just utilising his timing and then the ramp shots,” he shared.
“He looks like he’s a quality player who should have been playing international cricket a lot earlier. He’s very good against the spinners as well,” he added.
While Hogg recognises the talent that Sarfaraz has, he remains wary of his batting technique, which according to him could be a problem when playing in places like England, South Africa or even Australia.
“If he goes to places like England and South Africa and if he’s on the tour here to Australia where there’s extra bounce, he might find himself in a little bit of trouble with the way that he sets himself up before the fast-bowler delivers,” Hogg said.
“Those hands are very low. So, he’s got to bring them up and when it bounces a little bit, it’s going to be a little bit harder to adjust with the extra pace on those wickets. So that’s something that he might look out for with his technique to just have a slight change before he gets down here to Australia,” he added.
Sarfaraz has been plying his trade playing in Indian conditions for quite some time, and it could be possible that his technique is currently set up for the subcontinental conditions. But it remains to be seen if he will get the pick for India’s upcoming tour of Australia, where they will look to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for a third consecutive tour.
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