Sarfaraz Khan: Overlooked for the India A tour of New Zealand, Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan has admitted he had hoped for a call-up, but said he would keep scoring runs in domestic cricket and leave selection to the selectors.
Sarfaraz, who last played for India nearly two years ago against New Zealand in the 2024 Test at the Wankhede Stadium, made 55 on day one of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy match against Railways at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday.
“Obviously. Whenever a team comes out, I have expectations. But it’s okay. It’s in their (selectors’) hands whether to select me or not. My job is to play cricket,” Sarfaraz told reporters in a post-day chat.
Sarfaraz was recalled to the Test squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka in August as a replacement for the injured Sai Sudharsan, but did not get a game. It was in that dressing room, he said, that he learnt how the selectors viewed him.
“The selectors didn’t say it to me directly, but when I went to the Indian team recently, I heard that they are looking at me more for Indian conditions,” he said.
Sarfaraz questioned that thinking, pointing to his record overseas. “But still I have a question, that when I went to (South) Africa, I scored runs (for India A). When I went to England, I scored. So sometimes when you make a comeback and you get a rank turner in India, suddenly you can’t perform very well on a difficult wicket after scoring in domestic cricket.
“Or if you do, then 30-40-50 runs are enough on it. But it is not that I have not scored runs outside (India). I have scored outside too. So it’s okay. Ye unka nazariya hai (This is the selectors’ perspective). My job is to play cricket. And I will play.”
The numbers back him up. In seven first-class matches for India A in overseas conditions, Sarfaraz has scored 300 runs at an average of exactly 50, with three half-centuries. Those games came in South Africa in 2021 and 2023, Bangladesh in 2022 and England in May 2025.
After his Test team recall, Sarfaraz was then named vice-captain of the Rest of India side for the Irani Cup against Ranji Trophy champions Jammu and Kashmir a month ago, scoring 45 and 0.
Back in the Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz has scores of 1, 154, 40 and 55 this season, at an average of 62.50. But more than a decade after his Ranji debut in 2014, he said starting over every season had not been easy.
“It’s very difficult to score runs every season. I think I am still doing the same thing that I did with my father in the beginning. It’s the same thing. I don’t take off in the off-season, and I practice and keep batting. I don’t know how many runs I am going to make.
“But when I came to Ranji Trophy 10-11 years ago, I worked hard the same way. I have the same routine. Everyone knows If you want to meet Sarfaraz Khan, you don’t have to go to his house, you can meet him at Azad Maidan or Cross Maidan at 6 in the morning. It’s very difficult to restart every year, come every year and work hard. Sometimes you get success, sometimes you don’t. But this is my job, I can’t do anything,” he added.
Having already realised his dream of an India cap in 2024, Sarfaraz said his father Naushad Khan remains his biggest source of motivation. “So many things have happened. I am not thinking much. I wake up every morning and ask myself the same question, why should I work harder? I have played for India, but I wake up at 5 in the morning and go (to train).
“I can play for Ranji Trophy with normal hard work. I’m still scoring 30, 40, 50, 100. So sometimes I get these questions in my head. But it’s okay. When I see that my father is working hard, he is sweating it out, then it’s okay. I will go and score for him. It motivates me to wake up every morning.
“Everyone knows that I don’t have (any other) support in my life. If I have support, it’s only from my father. No one has supported me in my life. But it’s okay. I worked hard; I fulfilled my father’s dream (by playing for India). It’s not easy to play for India, especially in this generation. And it’s not like I scored once or twice and played for India. I scored 300, 200, 250 (in domestic cricket) and worked hard and played for India.
“Motivation is to play cricket, that’s it. Wherever I get a chance, I will play cricket. When it’s off-season, I don’t like to sit at home. I think I’m made for cricket. Wherever I get an opportunity… (If) Ranji Trophy, Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Hazare, IPL, Indian team calls me, I will go. If India A calls me, I will go. I want to play cricket,” he elaborated.
After being dropped from the Test side in 2024, Sarfaraz went on a strict diet and exercise regime last year and brought his weight down from 97 kg to 77 kg. Pictures of the transformation went viral on social media, though Sarfaraz said nobody in the India or Mumbai set-ups had asked him to slim down.
“No one told me that I have to lose weight. But whatever I heard on social media, or from someone, that maybe I should lose weight. So I did it. Because whatever I hear, that I should work on something, I am doing that in my life. I can’t do anything more than that. In reality, I was overweight. There is no doubt about that.”
After being dropped from the Test side in 2024, Sarfaraz went on a strict diet and exercise regime last year and brought his weight down from 97 kg to 77 kg. Pictures of the transformation went viral on social media, though Sarfaraz said nobody in the India or Mumbai set-ups had asked him to slim down.
Article Source: IANS
