'My heart was beating too fast' - Sarfaraz Ahmed opens up on eagerly awaited Test return

The decision of getting former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed back into the side proved to be a masterstroke for the Pakistan Test side as they put up a tough competition against New Zealand in the first Test of the two-match series. Marking his return to the Test side after nearly four years, Sarfaraz notched up a crucial 153-ball 86 while also forming an important 196-run partnership with skipper Babar Azam for the fifth wicket.

All the fixtures of New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan will be played at Karachi, and the first Test marked Sarfaraz’s first-ever Test match on home soil since his debut. Sarfaraz played his 49^th Test in January 2019 and had to wait for almost four years to play his 50^th Test for Pakistan. He walked out to bat when Pakistan was under pressure and had been reduced to 110/4. But he handled the situation with great composure.

The wicketkeeper-batter opened up on his comeback, and revealed that he had been nervous while walking out to bat. He said that things had been tense before lunch, but Babar Azam provided him with the required confidence in the dressing room during the break which helped him settle in the game with ease.

“When I played my first three balls, if you would have measured my heartbeat, the meter would have broken. My heart was beating too fast. It was not like I was debuting, I was making a comeback and it was a crunch situation. Babar gave me a lot of confidence and as a senior player the way he talked me through the pressure gave me a lot of confidence,” he said during a press conference after the first day’s play.

It was disappointing not to get a century in my hometown: Ahmed

Sarfaraz was dismissed on 86(153) and fell a few runs short of his century. In the 86^th over of the game, the right-hander edged Ajaz Ahmed’s delivery and was caught on slip by Daryl Mitchell. Sarfaraz was disappointed after giving away his wicket and being unable to convert his knock into a much-needed century.

“I finally got an opportunity and I hope my today’s knock will help the team. Of course, it was disappointing not to get a century in my hometown, but the partnership with Babar was more important to me,” he added.