'Please say sorry to Mr Gavaskar- I made a mistake': Sarfaraz Khan's Apologetic Response to Gavaskar

The recent India vs England Test match has turned out to be a good one for the Indian side. The team under Rohit Sharma became the first team to win a series after losing the first match of the series. India smashed the bazball everywhere on the ground. But apart from all these Indian sides who were lacking the experience of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, after the first match, it doesn’t look like they lacked something. 

The name featured in all the headlines was Sarfaraz Khan. Sarfaraz, who got his call for the international side after a long wait, was one of the most consistent run scorers in the domestic circuit. He scored three half centuries in the five innings that he got on the big stage, and all of these scores were crucial for the team. There were two instances when he made it big but failed to do so: first, when he got run out, and second, when he played a poor shot in Dharamshala. And Mr. Sunny Gavaskar was not so happy with that shot. 

It was the first ball after tea by Shoaib Bashir, and he was caught by Joe Root in the slips. Prior to that, he made a strong 95-run stand with Devdutt Paddikal. 

Former skipper and opener Sunil Gavaskar was not satisfied with this approach. He said during the commentary, "The ball was pitched up; it wasn't short enough for that shot. Goes for it and pays the price. I mean you are playing the first ball after tea. Give yourself a little sighter. Don Bradman said to me 'Every ball that I face, even if I am on 200, I think I am on 0.' And here is [Sarfaraz] is... playing such a shot first ball of the session."

And there is a reason why Mr Gavasakar was so involved in this whole scenario. Sarafarz had a long discussion with the veteran on the eve of the first inning, and Sunil Gavaskar was seen giving some valuable insights to the youngster. Shyam Bhatia, a Dubai-based businessman, has set up this meeting, and he also said that Sarfaraz was depressed after the dismissal. 

"Sunil was telling him that the most important thing is selection of shots," Shyam Bhatia added. 

"It is very important. He was talking to him for around 45 minutes. Then in the match, immediately after tea he got out to a very stupid shot.

"Sunil was so angry, and asked on commentary what he was doing.

The next day, Sarfaraz was with me again and said, 'Sir, please say sorry to Mr Gavaskar - I made a mistake! I won't make that mistake again.'”