By Shamik Chakrabarty in Mumbai
The numbers read like this — three matches, five innings, 95 runs at 23.75, and a highest score of 42. Still early days in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, but for a player who boasts an average of 63.73 (north of 110 over the last five years in first-class cricket), these are modest returns. It’s too soon to say Sarfaraz Khan is going through a lean patch, but he hasn’t quite looked like his usual self so far this season.
In his pursuit of returning to the Test side, Sarfaraz’s preparations for the season began with rigorous fitness training and a complete overhaul of his diet. He shed 17 kilos and went to the Buchi Babu tournament, where he struck back-to-back hundreds before sustaining a quadriceps injury. He wasn’t considered for the home Tests against the West Indies, as the middle-order batter was still in rehab.
A fit-again Sarfaraz returned to domestic cricket, turning up for Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy opener against Jammu and Kashmir. His innings of 42 showed promise before he was run out. He followed it up with scores of 32, 1, 15 and 5 not out in his next four innings.
In his last game for India A, Sarfaraz had scored 92 against the England Lions in June. Less than five months later, as India A play multi-day games against South Africa A in Bengaluru, the 28-year-old finds himself out of the reckoning. His omission sparked considerable controversy and even turned political. Has the snub unsettled his focus?
“He is a human being after all,” said Siddhesh Lad, Mumbai’s crisis man and one of the senior players in the team. “Everyone makes some mistakes. A small lean patch happens even to big players. If we look at the last four-five years, he (Sarfaraz) has consistently scored runs. But somewhere if he gets demotivated as a player, that is the time when we as a team lift him. So we try to do that. Because we know what potential he has. If he plays, he plays big innings. So as a team, we try to lift his confidence in any way we can.”
Before the match against Chhattisgarh, Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur had said Sarfaraz didn’t need India A to make a case for Test selection, the Ranji Trophy was his best platform. After conceding the first-innings lead to Rajasthan in their previous game, Mumbai now need to come back strong against Himachal Pradesh.
The Elite Group D table is intriguingly poised after three matches, with Hyderabad and Mumbai on 10 points each, and Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi snapping at their heels with nine, eight and seven points respectively. The pitch at the MCA Ground in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) has played a bit slow and low this season due to an extended monsoon. The home fixture, however, offers Mumbai a chance to pull ahead of the pack and a Sarfaraz resurgence would be timely.
Ranji Trophy: Mumbai vs Himachal Pradesh from November 8 (Start time: 9.30 am)
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