South African batting great AB de Villiers expressed his happiness over India batsman Sarfaraz Khan finally getting a chance to make his international debut, describing the youngster as a “level-headed” and “down to earth” person. Sarfaraz finally got his much-awaited Test debut and scored double half-centuries (62 and 68*) during India’s 434-run win against England in the third Test in Rajkot. Speaking on his YouTube channel, de Villiers said he was proud of his former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate. “I’ve played with this guy before and he’s a very sorted and down-to-earth guy. I’m really proud of him. It was great to see Sarfaraz kiss his father after he turned fifty and It was heart-touching for me to observe.”

Sarfaraz represented RCB in the Indian Premier League (IPL) between 2015 and 2018 and got a chance to share the dressing room with the Proteas legend. In 25 matches with the franchise, Sarfaraz scored 228 runs at an average of 20.73 with a strike rate of over 159 in 18 innings. His best score was 45*.

The former Proteas batsman also praised young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for making the game look so easy.

“There are not enough words…it’s aggressive batting and makes the game so easy. I love watching him (Jaiswal) play and it feels like the pressure is always on the bowlers,” de Villiers said.

Jaiswal achieved a remarkable feat during the fourth day of the third Test in Rajkot on Sunday as he became the first Indian to score two double centuries against England in Tests.

Jaiswal’s first double century against England came in the second Test match in Visakhapatnam, where he scored 209 runs in India’s first innings. The 22-year-old player played an unbeaten inning of 214 runs in the third Test match.

Other than the 22-year-old, Virat Kohli, Sunil Gavaskar, Vinod Kambli, Gundappa Viswanath, Rahul Dravid, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi all smashed one Test double hundred against England.

Jaiswal has also hit the most number of sixes in a Test series for India and has become the first player to hit 20 sixes in a Test series worldwide with 22 overhead boundaries against England in the ongoing series.

He made his Test debut in 2023 against West Indies. After this, Jaiswal took part in 7 long format matches and 13 innings, in which he scored 861 runs at an average of 71.75.

De Villiers also praised 24-year-old Shubman Gill’s crucial innings of 91 which gave him some “breathing space” in the highly competitive environment of Team India.

“He (Gill) is under pressure and not in the best form. But he played such an important innings under pressure and that too at a crucial juncture of his career. This innings was important for him to get some relief,” he said. That Indian team,” De Villiers said.

The Punjab batsman is the fourth-highest run-scorer in the ongoing series, having scored 252 runs at an average of 42 in six innings and has one century and one half-century to his name. After a poor run of form, Gill has redeemed himself with some good performances in the series so far.

The fourth test will be held in Ranchi from Friday.