MUMBAI: Sarfaraz Khan is not letting the snub by the national selectors for the Bangladesh Test tour derail his love for the game, or his tremendous commitment towards it, one bit.
If on Saturday night the 25-year-old, who has been the highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy or the past two seasons, chipped in with an unbeaten 36-run cameo off 31 balls to help Mumbai beat Himachal Pradesh in the final and clinch their maiden Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, on Sunday morning, the domestic ‘run-machine’ flew back to Mumbai, and drove directly from airport to the Sunder Cricket ground at the Cross Maidan to play a Purshottam Shield league match for his club Parkophene against Khar Gymkhana.
It isn’t difficult to guess what he did after Parkophene decided to bat first. He slammed a 94-ball 157, reaching his century with a savage pull. Overall, his entertaining knock contained 26 fours and four sixes. To round off another busy day on the cricket field for him, he later took two catches at first slip too.
“I took his cricketing gear with me when I went to receive him at the airport. From Monday, I will train him with both the red and white ball,” Sarfaraz’ father-cum-coach Naushad Khan told TOI.
Sarfaraz is likely to be picked for the India A tour of Bangladesh later this month, and will play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy from November 12.
