‘500 balls per day’ - Coach reveals how Sarfaraz Khan honed his batting skills against spin bowling

Despite proving himself time and again in domestic cricket, the national selectors weren’t impressed with Sarfaraz Khan and never considered him for selection in India’s Test squad. However, with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul unavailable in the third Test against England, Sarfaraz was called up and he responded with two back-to-back half-centuries. In his debut innings, the Mumbai-born cricketer made 62, while adding another 68* in the second innings as India beat England by 434 runs in Rajkot.

With that, the youngster has more-or-less cemented his position in the playing XI for the remaining two Tests. Courtesy of playing on spin-friendly surfaces in Mumbai, Sarfaraz looked flawless against England spinners, which has also impressed skipper Rohit Sharma. Meanwhile, he trained under his father Naushad Khan and other coaches as well during the COVID-19 lockdown. One of the coaches who has seen Sarfaraz’s growth from close quarters revealed that the 26-year-old used to play 500 deliveries each day and travelled a lot to play in diverse conditions.

“It has taken playing 500 deliveries per day from off, leg and left-arm spinners across Oval, Cross, and Azad Maidans in Mumbai," the coach was quoted as saying by NDTV.

“...during (COVID) lockdown, he undertook a car journey covering 1600 km. From Mumbai to Amroha, Moradabad, Meerut, Kanpur, Mathura, and Dehradun, he travelled and played on proverbial 'akhadas' where the ball turns square with one shooting up and few staying down,” he added.

"During lockdown, Sarfaraz played Kuldeep a lot at our Kanpur Academy": Kapil Pandey

The coaches of Gautam Gambhir, Mohammed Shami, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar played a huge role in shaping Sarfaraz’s career. Out of which, Kapil Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav’s coach revealed that the youngster played a lot against the Indian spinner which, in turn, helped him master the art of playing spin. He added that the duo had a lot of practice sessions during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“During lockdown, Sarfaraz played Kuldeep a lot at our Kanpur Academy. They did lots of net sessions together. I would arrange T20 matches as that season, Mushtaq Ali T20 was the main tournament. Having grown up playing on Mumbai's red soil, Sarfaraz has the perfect game against spin and uses his feet well,” Pandey said.