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Sarfaraz Khan couldn’t control his frustration and emotion as he spoke about his non-inclusion in the India Test team. His last Test appearance came in 2024 against New Zealand before warming the bench in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and thereafter being sidelined completely despite scoring consistently in domestic cricket. On the sideline of the Ranji Trophy game against Railways, the Mumbai batsman put his heart out. From 97 kilograms to 77 kilograms to improve his fitness, the Mumbai batter has done everything possible to put his case forward.
To restart every season is getting tougher and tougher but Sarfaraz is not giving up. “Har subah utatha hoon, (I wake up every morning) and ask myself the same question. Why should I work harder and undergo the same thing again and again. I have played for India. I wake up at 5am in the morning and go to practice. Chahoon to Mumbai ke liye khel sakta hoon and I am still playing. Sometimes I get that question in my mind. But when I see that my father is working hard for me, mein unko liye ab score karna chahta hoon. This is the only factor which is motivating me,” he said after scoring fifty at the Brabourne Stadium.
The selection committee picked him for two Test match series against Sri Lanka after Sai Sudharsan didn’t recover from his injury. Sarfaraz says he didn’t know that he would get a call for the Sri Lanka tour. “I was batting in the NCA. They called me there and I didn’t get an opportunity. I came back and played cricket in Mumbai. I am just playing. They (selector) will call me wherever I get a chance. I will go and play. If they don’t call me, I will play here,” he added.
When asked whether the selectors have clearly communicated to him the areas they are looking at him? Which areas do they want him to improve? Sarfaraz is looking for many answers. There is a perception built that he can’t bat in overseas conditions.
“When I went to the Indian team, I heard that I will be given more chances in Indian conditions but still I have a question. When I went to Africa, I scored 100 runs against the Indian team in 60 balls. When I went to England, I scored 100 runs in 60 balls. So I think when you come back (in India), you will get such a big rank turner in India. You struggle so much and suddenly you won’t be able to work with such a difficult wicket. It’s not that I didn’t score outside. I scored outside too. That’s their look out, that’s their point of view. But my job is to play cricket, and I will continue playing,” the Mumbai middle-order added.
He was hoping to be picked for India A squad for the New Zealand tour, but the selectors didn’t pick him.
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Somewhere Sarfaraz feels that he didn’t get the support from the people who mattered. “Everyone knows that I don’t have support in my life. If I have support, it is only from my father. No one has supported me in my life. But it’s okay. I have worked hard. I fulfilled my father’s dream. It’s not easy to play in India in this generation. And I didn’t score once or twice and played in India. I scored 300’s, 200’s, 250’s.If someone supports me, it’s my father. I will keep working hard as much as I can,” Sarfaraz points out.
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