Sarfaraz Khan Hits 'Landmark' First Class Hundred, Sends India Team Management Strong Message

India batter Sarfaraz Khan, who wasn't a part of the playing XI for any of the two Tests against Bangladesh, slammed a century in the Irani Cup for Mumbai, sending the team management a clear message. Sarfaraz, despite his heroics in domestic red-ball games, hasn't quite managed to cement his place in the Test playing XI. While Sarfaraz was a part of the India squad for the 2-match series against Bangladesh, he was released on both occasions -- first for the Duleep Trophy, then for the Irani Cup.

Playing for Mumbai in the Irani Cup, Sarfaraz slammed a hundred on Wednesday, in what was his 15th triple-digit score in First Class cricket. Sarfaraz also reached the landmark in just 150 balls, showing intent to play a positive brand of cricket.

THAT moment when Sarfaraz Khan brought up his

A brilliant knock so far #IraniCup | @IDFCFIRSTBank

Follow the match https://t.co/Er0EHGOZKh pic.twitter.com/nEEJW2kea9

For Mumbai, Rahane and Sarfaraz added 98 runs by the end of Day 1 as Mumbai put a score of 237 on the board for the loss of 4 wickets. The duo added 43 more runs to the partnership on Day 2 before Rahane was dismissed by Yash Dayal, missing out on a deserved hundred by just 3 runs.

Sarfarz and Shams Mulani then tried to stitch a partnership together before the latter was dismissed by Mukesh Kumar. Sarfarz was later joined by Tanush Kotian and the duo put 58 runs together to guide Mumbai to 338 for 6 by lunchtime in Lucknow. Sarfaraz then went on to score a century in the 92nd over of the innings and remained unbeaten on 103 off 155 balls at lunch.

Sarfaraz Khan in First Class cricket:

Fifties - 14.

Hundreds - 15. pic.twitter.com/UKbIvAx3Ng

Sarfarz's ton also placed him in the legendary company of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul