Watch: 'Uss time koi meri heartbeat check karta toh meter phat jaata' - Sarfaraz's epic reply leaves reporters in splits
Sarfaraz Ahmed left reporters in splits with his hilarious reaction when asked about his state of mind when the wicketkeeper-batter arrived at the crease on Day 1 of the Test against Pakistan.
Pakistan's veteran wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed made a brilliant return to Test cricket earlier this week, as he smashed an important 86 in the first innings of the match against New Zealand on Monday. Sarfaraz forged a 196-run stand alongside captain Babar Azam and steered Pakistan out of trouble; he arrived at the crease with the side's score at 110/4. The hosts eventually put a strong total of 438 in Karachi, with Babar scoring a phenomenal 161 and Agha Salman also scoring a valiant ton (103).
However, following the brilliant knock on Day 1 of the Test, Sarfaraz revealed that he was incredibly nervous when he arrived at the crease. The wicketkeeper-batter joined Babar in the middle with only three balls remaining for the end of the first session of the day, and even hit a four off his second delivery but Sarfaraz insisted that he had to be calmed down by fellow teammates once he reached the dressing room at Lunch.
“Jo maine 3 balls kheli hain lunch se pehle, uss time meri koi heartbeat check kar leta toh shayad meter hi phat jaata (During the 3 balls that I played before lunch, if someone had checked my heartbeat, there was a high possibility that the monitor would've broken)," Sarfaraz said, leaving the reporters in splits during the post-match press conference after the end of Day 1.
"Because it was beating very fast. I felt like I was making my debut all over again. The situation was also quite crunch at the time. In fact, when I came back for lunch, the boys realised what I was going through so they kept on saying, ‘Saifi bhai, please get normal!’” Sarfaraz added.
The 35-year-old wicketkeeper-batter also added that Babar continued to give him confidence throughout the partnership.
“When I went again, Babar gave me a lot of confidence. He played like a senior cricketer there because I really needed some confidence at the time. When you make a comeback after such a long time, you feel like you're playing your first match,” said Sarfaraz.