'Sarfaraz Khan...Prodigious Than His Waistline'- World Cup Winner Opines

Muskaan Bhatt

Sarfaraz Khan celebrating his century 4 vs NZ (Source:@sarfarazkhan977/x.com)Sarfaraz Khan celebrating his century 4 vs NZ (Source:@sarfarazkhan977/x.com)

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Sports and fitness often go hand in hand. In fact, over the years, discussions over fitness and agility have repeatedly risen in the vast field of sports. Global icons like Virat Kohli, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Rafael Nadal are the most prominent symbols of maintaining good health and succeeding further in the game.

However, India's former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has used India's emerging star Sarfaraz Khan as an example and said that despite not having a slim waist and fitting in with the standard fitness pre-requisitions, he has continued to perform exceptionally well for India and even in domestic cricket.

Sarfaraz Khan has had quite the year, he recently slammed a valiant 150 runs for India and registered his maiden ton for India. With this ton, he saved India from an embarrassing innings loss.

"Sarfaraz Khan has been denied a place in the Indian team for some years now, despite scoring runs by the hundreds in domestic cricket. This was largely because those in a position to make decisions believed he didn’t have the slim waist they deemed necessary for international cricket. Sarfaraz’s returns on the field with the bat were even more prodigious than his waistline. Sadly, Indian cricket has had too many decision-makers with ideas that are hard to fathom," said Gavaskar.

Sunil Gavaskar On Rishabh Pant

He further cited Rishabh Pant's example and explained how he also does not possess a 'slim waist' but is a valuable asset to the team. He not only bats well but also keeps wickets for the Indian team.

He also stated that yo-yo tests should be discarded and that the player's mental fitness should be considered instead.

"Rishabh Pant is another player who doesn’t possess the slim waist that these fitness purists seem to want, but what an impact player he is. Let’s not forget that he also keeps wickets all day, which not only requires getting up and down for around six hours of play but also running to the stumps to gather the throws. So, please discard these yoyo-yoyo tests and instead assess how strong a player is mentally. That will be a true indicator of a player’s fitness. If a player can bat the whole day or bowl 20 overs in a day, he is match-fit, regardless of how slim or not his waist is," said Gavaskar.

Meanwhile, India will next be seen in action for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune from October 24 onwards.