'I was waiting for my time to come' - Sarfaraz Khan on his prolific form with the bat
Sarfaraz had moved to Uttar Pradesh in a bid to challenge himself on difficult wickets but the lack of opportunities there paved way for his Mumbai comeback.
Even though perennial domestic heavyweights Mumbai endured another forgettable season, they unearthed a run-machine in the form of Sarfaraz Khan, who broke a plethora of records during his gobsmacking run-making spree.
The right-hander may have had a quiet start to his 2019-20 campaign of the Ranji Trophy when he scored just 8 runs in his opening innings but the right-hander made amends for it in the second innings when he scored an unbeaten 71.
But it was really against Uttar Pradesh where Khan truly unleashed his ‘run-machine’ moniker when he blasted a whirlwind 301. He then followed it up with another (daddy) double-hundred [226 off 213 balls] against Himachal Pradesh before following it up with a half-century against Saurashtra.
Sarfaraz capped off his season with another monstrous score of 177 against Madhya Pradesh to take his tally to 928 runs in nine innings at an average of 154.67. This was a great comeback by Khan; one as he rightly points out was built on sheer hard work.
“I had practiced more and really hard. I worked hard and spent more time on the ground,” Sarfaraz told the reporters as quoted by IndiaTV.
Sarfaraz Khan is aiming to deliver whenever he gets a chance
Sarfaraz had moved to Uttar Pradesh in a bid to challenge himself on difficult wickets but the lack of opportunities there paved way for his Mumbai comeback.
“I was not getting opportunities. I was waiting for an opportunity. I was waiting for my time to come,” said Sarfaraz.
“My dad said so I went. I thought I had to come back to Mumbai to make a career. The UP team was not playing me so I had no choice. I don’t think of what happened in the past. I think of the present and what to do the next day. It’s a proud feeling to play for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy,” added the right-hander.
Sarfaraz has been on the hinge of national selection for more than six years, but the right-hander is not fretting about the lack of opportunities and is only focussed on working hard.
“Whenever I get a chance, I have to do well not only in the IPL. I am not thinking of a national call-up, I am thinking of today. Everyone wants to play for India but for that, you need to work hard.”
Watch: Irfan Pathan’s interview post his retirement
Download Our App