A lull followed a bang. After back-to-back sparkling half-centuries on international debut in Rajkot last month, Sarfaraz Khan went through a period of struggle in the following Test in Ranchi, aggregating only 14 runs.

On a challenging wicket, the 26-year-old didn't look too comfortable against England's tweakers — left-armer Tom Hartley and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir — who both accounted for him in that fourth Test, which India won to seal the five-match series.

But for Sarfaraz, the time out in the middle wasn't satisfactory. After edging a turning-away delivery from Hartley to slip in the first innings, he suffered a first-ball dismissal in the second off the bowling of Bashir. Sarfaraz tried to defend but wasn't close to where the ball had pitched. The ball took a thin edge off his bat, hit his knee-roll and popped up to the fielder at short leg.

These two dismissals might as well prompt critics to point out his concerns on surfaces that aren't ideal for batting or on wearing tracks. But wouldn't it be too early to jump to conclusions on the basis of just one poor game?

The ones who have watched Sarfaraz from close and know a thing or two about him don't seem to be too worried though. They are quite confident the lull period won't last long.

"Judging him after just one poor game wouldn't be fair. He's a positive batsman and on the lookout to score runs.

"Also, you'll notice he plays close to his body. He plays late, be it facing quicks or spinners. So, it's just a matter of time he'll be back with runs. Maybe in the very next game itself. Kaafi suljha hua hai woh (He's quite sorted), so he'll surely make up," former Mumbai coach Vinayak Samant, during whose tenure Sarfaraz returned to the Mumbai team (from Uttar Pradesh) in 2019, told The Telegraph from Dubai on Monday.

"I don't think there's any technical flaw in Sarfaraz," said former national selector Jatin Paranjape. "It's just that he needs to get used to the Test-match intensity, which is about dealing with pressure situations and tricky conditions.

"Once he has played six-seven Tests, you'll see him react much better to these situations when he again comes across them."

The team management and the selectors too haven't read much into the middle-order batsman's performance in the fourth Test. "If his technique was an issue, no way he could have scored those many runs in domestic cricket and also for India 'A'.

"We saw how well he played in Rajkot. It's just that he needs to deliver under pressure, which too will happen the more he plays. Make no mistake, he will be getting full backing from the team as well as the selectors," a BCCI official said.

Assuming Sarfaraz will be there in the XI for the final Test in Dharamsala beginning on Thursday, it certainly will give him another opportunity to quickly redeem himself and travel a few more miles to cement his place in the side. Obviously, like other young batsmen in the squad, he too needs to fine-tune his technique a little bit and be stronger in defence.

It's still a tad too early to say if Sarfaraz will feature in the squad for the Australia tour later this year. But he should be getting his share of chances to make a case for himself when India host Bangladesh and New Zealand for two and three Tests in September and October, respectively.

"In this Indian team dressing room, the transfer of knowledge will be of huge help for Sarfaraz, especially as there's someone like (head coach) Rahul Dravid. That dressing room at present is indeed a very good place to learn," Paranjape said.