New Delhi. Indian cricket team's new star Sarfaraz Khan is very happy to score the first century of his Test career. Sarfaraz says that since childhood his dream was to score a Test century. Sarfaraz got a chance to replace the injured Shubman Gill in the playing eleven in the first Test match against New Zealand, which he grabbed with both hands. With this, Sarfaraz has shown that he is not meant to play only as a substitute player. Sarfaraz scored 150 runs and made a big partnership with Rishabh Pant (99). With this, India was successful in setting a target of 107 runs in front of the Kiwi team despite trailing by 356 runs in the first innings.

Sarfaraz Khan's father Naushad also had a dream that his son would play Test cricket and score big. This was the reason why this 26-year-old batsman did not forget to mention his father. He said in the press conference after the match, 'I talk to my father often because he keeps motivating me all the time. I felt good because this was my first century playing for India. This has been a dream for me since childhood. I am very happy.'

'My present also got spoiled while thinking about tomorrow'
Sarfaraz knows that it is not easy to make a place in the Indian middle order but he wants to focus only on the present instead of thinking about the future. He said, 'I always keep in mind that tomorrow is uncertain. It has happened in the past that my present also got spoiled while thinking about tomorrow, so now I only want to live in the present.' Sarfaraz showed during his innings that he is a good off-side batsman. New Zealand's fast bowlers bowled short pitch balls to him on which he scored easily on the off side. He scored 83 out of his 150 runs on the off side.

'I like to play the rising ball'
Sarfaraz said, 'I like to play the rising ball. I have a bouncy wicket at my home (Mumbai) on which I practice regularly. They (New Zealand fast bowlers) were trying to bowl short balls outside off for me and I just played accordingly. It was fun.' Sarfaraz shared a 177-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Rishabh Pant. Pant was recovering a bit from his knee injury and was struggling to find his rhythm in the beginning. Therefore, Sarfaraz faced more of the New Zealand fast bowlers in the first hour and gave more strikes to his partner after the spin bowlers came.

'We have to take 2-3 wickets in the beginning'
Sarfaraz said, 'When the left-arm spinner was bowling, I was trying to give the strike to Pant. I knew that he would dominate them. We were trying to put pressure on the bowlers from both ends because I was also facing the fast bowling attack well.' India has set a target of 107 runs in front of New Zealand but Sarfaraz hopes that his team will be able to defend it. He said, 'This is not an easy wicket to bat on. I don't think the game has gone out of our hands yet. The ball is still cutting in and out. So if we can take two three wickets of theirs (New Zealand) in the beginning, then their batting can collapse.'