Sarfaraz Khan makes a roaring comeback with maiden ton to rekindle hopes of an Eden-esque stunner in Bengaluru

Sarfaraz found a unexpected opportunity in the opening Test match of the three-game series at home against the Kiwis. Despite his impressive performance in his debut Test series earlier this year, where he scored three fifties in five innings against England, Sarfaraz was at risk of warming the bench as India were expected to stick with their winning line-up from the Bangladesh series. However, KL Rahul's return to the format changed the game and suggested that the management were leaning towards backing the experienced batter, especially with the crucial tour of Australia coming up later this year.

However, with Shubman Gill suffering a stiff neck on the eve of the Bengaluru opener against Tom Latham's men, Sarfaraz, who smashed a record knock of 222 in the Irani Cup earlier this month, was drafted as a No. 4. He did fail in the opening innings, scoring a duck, but roared back as the Chinnaswamy track began to ease out for the batters.

He eventually his maiden Test century with a boundary against Tim Southee on Day 4 of the Test match. This was the 22nd instance where an India batter registered a duck and a hundred in the same Test, the most recent being Shubman Gill, against Bangladesh in Chennai last month. The only other Indian to do that against New Zealand was Shikhar Dhawan - 0 and 115 at the Eden Park, Auckland in 2014.

On Day 3, the Mumbai batter put on a counter-attacking show alongside former captain Virat Kohli following the dismissal of openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal after Tea. Kohli, who was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, made a strong comeback with a counterattacking 70 before being dismissed by Glenn Phillips. En route, he joined an elite group of cricketers by scoring his 9,000th run in Test matches. Sarfaraz, meanwhile, remained unbeaten on 70 off 78 deliveries. His innings comprised seven boundaries and three sixes. The two forged a crucial partnership of 136 runs that revived India's innings.