E-Paper
Sign in
Ignored Sarfaraz will not move up the order for Mumbai
Axed from the Test side, missing out on India A selection, the middle order batter has been in the news
Mumbai: Gearing up for a fresh Ranji season with an eye on bigger personal honours is what Sarfaraz Khan has done a lot of. Being constantly on the waiting list is also something he’s learned to deal with. It may have led to frustration, but it never broke him. To lose favour after making it to the elite level can be deflating though and will test the resilience of the middle-order batter.
As Sarfaraz took catches during fielding practice a day before Mumbai’s second round of Ranji Trophy against Chattisgarh at the Bandra Kurla Complex, his state opener Ayush Mhatre, 18, left the squad to gear up for India A action against South Africa A in Bengaluru. Sarfaraz can’t make it to India A, let alone earn a Test recall. At 28, age does not count against him but what does, has been left to conjecture.
After he broke down the selection door with a rich run of scores in domestic, Sarfaraz’s first stint in India whites, last year, was a mixed bag. While he showed his full range during his Bengaluru Test hundred against New Zealand, a sequence of poor scores - 0, 11, 9, 0, 1 - followed on turning pitches.
Averaging 37 after 6 Tests, Sarfaraz wasn’t a runaway hit, nor a spectacular failure. He has simply lost his place in the queue. After warming the bench during the Australian tour, he wasn’t picked for England. And, subsequently suffered a quadriceps injury.
Word from the selectors is that Sarfaraz will have to bat higher in the Mumbai batting order from his current No.5 to prove his worth again. For that, Sarfaraz’s future prospects need to align with his state team’s combinations.
Sarfaraz walked out to bat behind senior pros Ajinkya Rahane, 37, and Siddhesh Lad, 33, during Mumbai’s season opener against J&K. If Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur is to be believed, there is nothing to suggest there would be a change. “I think our batting order is set. We don’t need to make any changes,” he said.
Thakur was glowing in praise of Sarfaraz and didn’t even think he needed the A games to win back his Test place. “I think nowadays in India A side, they look at boys, (who) they want to prepare for international cricket. I think Sarfaraz doesn’t need India A games to play international cricket. If he gets back to scoring again, I mean because he is coming from injury lay-off, I am making this statement. If he scores runs, he can straight away go and play Test series also,” the Mumbai captain said.
“I think he is a senior pro who always delivers in crunch situations. He is one of the special players who never disappoints to perform and put up big scores. He has done it for years and years. Regardless of which number he bats, I think he will deliver.”
The Indian team management and selectors are known not to be as convinced about Sarfaraz’s prospects. With little communication between the national and Mumbai selectors, Sarfaraz, for now, has nothing else to aim for, than scoring big runs, something he’s never lost the appetite for.
