Ranji Trophy: Father's relentless drills during pandemic help Sarfaraz Khan post 275 for Mumbai

Sarfaraz Khan has made it difficult for the selectors to ignore him when they pick the squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka in the near future. Nothing — not even a pandemic which halted the Ranji Trophy for two years —seems to have put a brake on this unstoppable ‘run-machine’ who seems to be scoring ‘daddy hundreds’ in the tournament for fun. On Friday, Sarfaraz launched into the 2021-22 season in grand style, slamming a magnificent 275 (401b, 30x4, 7x6) to help Mumbai post a formidable 544 for seven declared against Saurashtra on Day Two of their Ranji Trophy Group D clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The 24-year-old was unlucky to miss out on what would have been his second triple hundred in the Ranji Trophy when he was adjudged lbw off Prerak Mankad. Saurashtra were 18 for no loss at stumps. Churning out another brilliant knock, Sarfaraz continued his sensational, Bradmanesque run in the Ranji Trophy.

In his last nine innings, he has scores of 71, 36, 301*, 226*, 25, 78, 177, 6, and now 275. Going into this match, in 19 First-Class games, his average read 67.30. Last year, he scored an unbeaten 71 against South Africa ‘A’ at Bloemfontein.

If the selectors need an alternative to Ajinkya Rahane — who was out for 129 (290b, 17x4, 2x6) on Friday — and Cheteshwar Pujara, here’s one ready to be blooded. “Since we suffered an early collapse, it was a very important knock for our team, and this is what matters to me. When you score runs against a big team like Saurashtra, who’re the defending champions, it feels good.

This was the most difficult wicket I’ve played on so far in my career. The ball was swinging on both the days and they had a decent attack. We need to win this game to qualify for the