Sarfaraz Khan says ‘sorry’ to Sunil Gavaskar after poor shot selection in Dharamshala Test

Sarfaraz Khan. (Photo Courtesy – Twitter/X)

In the fifth and final Test against England in Dharamshala, Sarfaraz Khan decided to play a limp cut on the first ball after the tea decision and got out scoring 56 runs. Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was very disappointed with his shot selection as he mentioned in the commentary that there was no need for the youngster to play such a shot right after a break.

Notably, after Day 1 of the Dharamshala Test, Sarfaraz had a long chat with Gavaskar. In the same meeting, the 74-year-old told him the importance of shot selection in Test cricket and for the same reason, he was disappointed in the comm box as Sarfaraz didn’t follow his wisdom. Gavaskar in the commentary box mentioned the time he met Sir Don Bradman, the former Australia cricketer taught him the importance of time and shot selection and he followed that for the rest of his career and hopes Sarfaraz to learn the lesson soon.

“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), playing such a shot first ball of the session,” Gavaskar said in the commentary as quoted by The National News.

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Meanwhile, after getting out in that fashion, Sarfaraz issued an apology to Gavaskar. Shyam Bhatia, who was also present in the first meeting between Gavaskar and Sarfaraz revealed that the former cricketer was livid with his shot selection. He added that Sarfaraz later apologised to the legendary cricketer and stated he vouched to not repeat the mistake again.

“Sunil was telling him that the most important thing is selection of shots. 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,” Bhatia said.