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It was a debut that Sarfraz Ahmed will remember for the rest of his life. In front of thousands of Indian fans at the majestic Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, the 20-year-old Sarfraz kept the wickets for Pakistan and didn’t take long in making a good impression on everybody watching the game.

“The feeling was better than what I’ve imagined,” said the Karachi-born youngster, who led Pakistan to a title-winning triumph in last year’s Youth World Cup. “To be playing for Pakistan against India in India was like a dream come true and thank God I did all right,” he expressed.

Sarfraz had replaced the out-of-sorts Kamran Akmal in the final game of the series and gave a good account of himself with two catches. A talented middle-order batsman, Sarfraz didn’t get a chance to bat in the game that Pakistan won to finish the five-match series 2-3.

“For me the best part was that we won the match,” he said. “We really played well today and it was great to be a part of it,” he added. Sarfraz, who was rushed to India last week after Akmal suffered from a finger injury, said that he took the field confidently after getting complete backing from the ‘captain, coach and other senior players’.

“Shoaib bhai sat down with me and told me that whatever happens in the match he would back me and that really helped. The coach was also very supportive and so were all the senior players and I must say that without their backing I couldn’t have played the way I did,” he explained.

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, commended Sarfraz’s performance in his debut match and said that the youngster has a great future in international cricket. “Sarfraz really did us proud,” he said.

Team manager Talat Ali Malik described Sarfraz as a ‘natural’ wicket-keeper saying that he is a welcome addition to the Pakistan squad. “Sarfraz is athletic and has the reflexes of a natural wicket-keeper,” he said. “The boy is still quite young and I’m sure with experience he would turn into a world-class player,” he remarked.

Source:Cricket News

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