The moment he whipped left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar for his 14th boundary at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, Sarfaraz Khan turned around to his partner Siddhesh Lad for a confirmation of his hundred. The moment it was confirmed, he leapt in the air twice, gave the Uttar Pradesh dressing room a stare and then turned to his teammates in the gallery and kissed the Lions’ crest on his jersey.
Life had indeed come a full circle for the Mumbai youngster. Less than a year after making his first-class debut and featuring in first of his two Under-19 World Cup, the versatile batsman on the insistence of his father-cum-coach Naushad, moved from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh with an eye for consistent opportunities.
But it turned out to be far from a memorable experience as the middle-orer batsman featured in just eight Ranji games for UP during his three seasons. Having returned to Mumbai at the beginning of last season, served the mandatory one-year cooling off period, Sarfaraz couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity than a face-off against UP to notch up his first century.
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“Jab bhi main peechhe dekhta hoon, mujhe chakkar aa jaati hai, to isiliye main baar baar peeche nahi dekhta hoon (whenever I turn around, my head spins so I avoid looking back),” he quipped but couldn’t help but get emotional.
“The decision (to move to UP) was dad’s. I remember when I was leaving for UP, I was packing and keeping my Mumbai kit aside, there were tears in my eyes as I loved Mumbai so much. The decision was dad’s. I did not think I would ever be able to play for Mumbai again,” he said.
“Then to come back… sometimes I cannot believe it, it feels as if I am sleeping. It is a very proud moment for me. I was born here, I have played all my cricket here, so I like this (city).”
With his T20 exploits including in the Indian Premier League arena, Sarfaraz was on the verge of being tagged a white-ball specialist. But his two knocks - 71 not out against Karnataka when he batted with the tail on a challenging surface and the unbeaten 132 on Tuesday - have stamped his class as a player for the longer formats.
“People do not know a lot about me as they have seen me mostly in white-ball cricket. I start my practice by batting for two hours against the swinging ball,” he said.
“My dad has made a pitch at our home where the ball swings a lot. I play there all day, and after that, when it swings here, it does not seem very difficult. I feel I bat better against the red ball compared to the white ball. Whenever I make a hundred in red-ball, I get it in a session itself. My dad, who I consider one of the best coaches, tells me that I have one of the best techniques (for red-ball cricket).”
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