AB De Villiers hopes to see his former RCB teammate makes his debut during Vizag Test vs England

Former South African stalwart AB De Villiers is hopeful that Sarfaraz Khan can make his debut against England. The 26-year-old has been called to the squad as a replacement for KL Rahul. 

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According to sources, Rajat Patidar is slightly ahead in terms of chances to play in Vizag. On Wednesday, Sarfaraz Khan was seen sweating it out in the nets and the practice session. The young batter then was seen chatting with Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. 

Ben Stokes and his side are expected to field four spinners for the second Test. India is also set to approach the same strategy with the track set to spin and offer a prodigious turn. Jack Leach is already out of the game due to injury and Shoaib Bashir is expected to make his debut. 

AB De Villiers backs Sarfaraz Khan to come good – 

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Speaking on his YouTube channel, AB De Villiers wants India to give Sarfaraz Khan his Test debut. The 39-year-old said “It’s just very exciting for me. His record in first-class cricket is quite outstanding, and if there’s a guy that deserves it, it’s certainly him. He has played 66 innings, 3912 runs, and an average of 69.85. 14 hundred and 11 fifties, guys, that is not normal”

Speaking on the subject further ABD said “That is a very good first class record. I know it’s a big jump to international cricket against England, on the biggest stage. I hope he gets a chance because Rajat Patidar has also been playing well”

On the eve of the game, there is massive speculation about the Indian bowling attack. With Ravindra Jadeja out injured the onus falls on Ravichandran Ashwin to lead the attack. Axar Patel will play the second fiddle while Kuldeep Yadav is also set to get a look in. Washington Sundar might be the fourth spinner with Bumrah as the sole pacer. 

“It can only be Kuldeep Yadav, who doesn’t offer as much with the bat or in the field, but he does have a lot of x-factor with the ball in hand. He maybe gives India a little bit of extra variation with the bowling department because you had Axar Patel and Jadeja there” De Villiers said. 

Finally addressing the loss of Jadeja due to injury, the former RCB icon revealed “I don’t think we all understand how big a loss Ravindra Jadeja is going into the 2nd Test match. The guy is a superstar. I thought he would do more in that first Test match, but generally speaking, he is fast wicket-to-wicket and some balls turn and some don’t. He is not easy to replace”