Hoping Sarfaraz Khan to be 'beast' in international cricket, says Abhishek Nayar

Bengaluru, Oct 19 (IANS) India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar is hoping Sarfaraz Khan to continue his stellar domestic form in international cricket. The Mumbai batter scored his maiden Test century in the first session of day four's play against New Zealand on Saturday.

Sarfaraz continued his knock from an overnight score of 70 and was joined by Rishabh Pant in the middle to continue India's fightback in the first Test after bundling out for 46 in the first essay, their lowest Test total at home.

The duo stitched a 113-run partnership with Pant scoring his 12th Test fifty before rain halted play in the first session. India were 344/3 in 71 overs, trailing by 12 runs.

"We associate Sarfaraz Khan with hundreds, double hundreds and triple hundreds. So I'm hoping at the end of the day we see the domestic Sarfaraz Khan being the beast in international cricket and get that triple hundred," Nayar said in a video posted by BCCI on X.

Earlier on Friday, Sarfaraz was also involved in a 136-run crucial partnership with Virat Kohli (70) before he was removed by Glenn Phillips on the final ball of the day's play.

"Sometimes when you are pushed against the wall, you expect Indians to come and fight back and that's the character we have in the dressing room. That innate nature that fight when you're up against it is very natural to us," Nayar said.

"If we can get past the first 15-20 overs without losing a wicket, then I think we can look at getting anywhere around 300-350 by the end of the day and then sort of challenging the New Zealanders in the last day. The ideal situation is to put 250 runs on board and put New Zealand in," he added.

India's second assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate lauded India's attitude to overcome the first innings collapse and initiating a fightback.

"Pretty solid day. We fought really hard, and we were really good up until that last ball. It's probably a big moment in the Test, but what it means is we've given ourselves a chance to get back into the game. No matter what situation they're presented with, we're trying to find solutions and I think you saw that today. With a massive deficit like that, it would have been easy to throw the towel in. So we're not far off and we certainly don't feel like we're out of the game. I think the guys have shown a never-say-die attitude and that's how we go about it." Ryan said.