"sarfaraz-khan"

Even Gambhir's philosophy of playing the same way, come hell or high water, is something that those associated closely with Indian cricket have failed to fathom

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggled with the bat, while the formidable spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja also failed to make a significant impact

If the hosts endured their first defeat after 18 consecutive Test series victories, New Zealand celebrated their first ever series-victory on the Indian soil in nearly 70 years.

Mohammed Siraj gets that new ball to talk and when he presents that seam upright, he gets it shape away, says the former Australian pacer

Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav made way for Akash Deep, Washington Sundar and Shubman Gill

Persistent morning rain delayed play until 1:50 pm, but once underway, a 177-run partnership between Sarfaraz and Pant for the fourth wicket pushed India into the lead.

Etches his name into the record books on Day 4 of the first Test against New Zealand, becoming the fastest Indian wicketkeeper to score 2,500 Test runs

Sarfaraz picked from where he had left off on day 3 to bring up his maiden Test century, reaching 125 not out from 154 balls with 16 fours and three sixes

After Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal put on 72 runs for the first wicket, Sarfaraz came out firing, finishing unbeaten on 70 off 78 balls, with seven fours and three sixes. Kohli showcased his classic style, effortlessly driving, lofting, and sweeping his way to 70 runs off 102 balls, making him the fourth Indian to reach the 9,000 Test run milestone.

Captain Rohit Sharma says there was some swelling and the team did not want to take any risks

India lost the wickets of skipper Rohit Sharma (2), Virat Kohli (0) and Sarfaraz Khan (0) early in the morning

Gill was unavailable for selection of the first Test due to a neck stiffness, says the Indian team management after the toss

While Nishant Sandhu comes in as a replacement for Axar in India D squad, Tushar Deshpande ruled out of game due to a niggle and his place will be taken by India A's Vidwath Kaverappa

England, on the other hand, are languishing at eighth with 19.44%, just a spot ahead of bottom-placed Sri Lanka, who are yet to open their account.

Sarfaraz, who was fielding in the deep, was called by Rohit to change his position from long-on to silly mid-off, and while the youngster responded to his captain's call, he decided to take a big risk.

England's Mark Wood took four wickets, but fielding lapses and Siraj's injury hindered their performance.

Rohit Sharma (131) and Ravindra Jadeja (112) struck fine hundreds while debutant Sarfaraz Khan made a promising start to his Test career with an impressive 62 off 66 balls.

After his dream debut, Sarfaraz received a special phone call from his younger brother, Musheer Khan, who recently shone with the bat for the Indian team in the U19 World Cup

A consistent performer on the domestic circuit, Sarfaraz had to wait years for his maiden India call-up, which came ahead of the Vizag Test.

However, miscommunication with star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the middle cut short his lovely debut innings as he was run out by Mark Wood at the non-striker's end.