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India's Sarfaraz Khan plays a shot during the 4th day of the 3rd cricket Test match between India and England, at Niranjan Shah Stadium, in Rajkot. (PTI)
Sarfaraz Khan has stopped thinking too far ahead in life, even though selectors appear to have closed the door on him for now.
Over the past year, the Mumbai batsman has endured several ups and downs and has been consistently overlooked despite a string of strong performances. While he has not received a clear explanation for his omission, it has not stopped him from working towards his goal.
On the eve of Mumbai’s final league-round Ranji Trophy match against Delhi, Sarfaraz was asked how he has handled the situation. His response was calm and philosophical. “I try to stay in the present. I can’t do anything about the past. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. All I know is that I’m going to go home, bat at home, spend time with my father, sleep at the hotel and play the match tomorrow. I don’t think about the future. I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing for years,” he said.
Sarfaraz scored his fifth first-class double century against Hyderabad in the penultimate league match, helping Mumbai secure an outright win and confirm a berth in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals. He said he is keen to keep improving and is now focusing on white-ball cricket.
Speaking to reporters, Sarfaraz also spoke about working with his younger brother Musheer and confidently predicted that he would one day lead the Indian team.
“I’m working hard on my white-ball game. I want to play for India in white-ball cricket and I’m paying attention to that. I’m also working with Musheer. His bowling complements his batting and vice versa. It’s not a big deal for him. Musheer is going to be the captain of the Indian team one day. I keep an eye on him. He’s young and plays all three formats. When I used to play cricket, my father would go home sad because I couldn’t bowl. But ever since Musheer started playing, my father knows that if he gets out while batting, he can bowl, and if he doesn’t get wickets while bowling, he can bat,” he added.
Sarfaraz has been picked by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League and considers himself fortunate. He admitted that he never imagined playing for the franchise.
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“My dream was to play with the legends of this generation. I played with Virat bhai at RCB. I never thought I’d get a chance to play with Rohit bhai, but I did in the Test team. I never thought I’d play with Mahi bhai, especially after he retired from international cricket. But after going unsold, CSK picked me in the IPL. I consider myself very lucky,” he said.
The IPL provides massive exposure and often acts as a platform for selection to the Indian team. Sarfaraz acknowledged that many young players are reluctant to focus on red-ball cricket. “If you look at youngsters these days, they don’t want to focus on red-ball cricket. But white-ball cricket is also very important,” he said.
Led by Ayush Doseja, Delhi have had a disappointing season and will be without Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya, both of whom have been selected for India A for a T20 World Cup warm-up game.
Having spent years covering Mumbai’s local "maidan" cricket circuit, Devendra Pandey brings a unique ground-level perspective to his reporting. ... Read More
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