The young batter has been sidelined despite consistent performances
Sarfaraz Khan’s non-selection for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy was bizarre. The Mumbai batter was clearly the stand-out performer in the domestic red-ball circuit, scoring a whopping 2,456 runs from 27 innings at an average close to 100 in three consecutive Ranji Trophy seasons.
His big hundreds were clearly getting him the national attention as Mumbai kept reaching the last four stages of the competition consistently and Sarfaraz was starring in almost every match.
It took more than two years after Sarfaraz’s break-out season in 2022 to make his debut against England. From 11 Test innings he played, the youngster scored a hundred and three fifties in the lower-middle order. Despite these consistent performances and impressing with India A in the shadow tour of England with a 92 at Canterbury, Sarfaraz was ignored for the final squad.
It was baffling that the Indian selectors got Abhimanyu Easwaran, B Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair in the squad but chose to ignore a consistent performer like Sarfaraz.
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While many former players criticised the decision, Sarfaraz was left with nothing but to work hard on his fitness. The 27-year-old lost up to 17 kilograms and posted his progress on social media.
As the Test series at home against South Africa draws closer along with the 2025 Duleep Trophy, Sarfaraz has set his eyes on a prestigious local league in the Mumbai maidans to get the selectors’ attention.
The Kanga League is a monsoon special in India’s financial capital, as players from all levels participate in it. Being played under overcast and often damp conditions poses a bigger challenge for batters. Sarfaraz appeared for Parkophone Cricketers on Sunday against Islam Gymkhana and scored a fine 61 off 42 balls.
“During my childhood, I heard a lot of stories from my father about how Sunil Gavaskar sir once turned up for a Kanga League match despite returning from England the same morning. So, Musheer (younger brother) and I have always taken pride in playing this tournament,” Sarfaraz told Mid-day on Sunday.
“I played my last Kanga League match three years ago. I was going through the league fixture book before this game and saw my name in it for scoring a century in 2018 and it felt nice,” he added.
He also called on youngsters to play the Kanga League as it helps them become a better batter and take pride in it as history suggests all the stars from Mumbai had taken part in it.
Sarfaraz has been named in the Shardul Thakur-led West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2025 which will begin on August 28.
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