Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan has said that his father and coach Naushad has requested him to play domestic matches with the same intent that he would have represented the national team, especially when the Mumbai star was struggling into the squad of the Men in Blue before the recent series against England.
The player struck three half-centuries against the Three Lions, demonstrating a terrific testament to the character and caliber that grinding out in the domestic circuit of Indian cricketing ecosystem builds. Sarfaraz has notched 3912 runs in first-class cricket, averaging 69.85 with 14 centuries to his name.
MCA Secretary Ajinkya Naik has been quoted by a local newspaper that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan had expressed their keenness to play the Ranji trophy final but there were no connecting flights from Dharamshala to Mumbai. Terrific Commitment.@ajinkyasnaik
— Makarand Waingankar (@wmakarand) March 10, 2024
"I would ask my father when would I get a chance to play for India and if there were people supporting us. He would tell me just one thing, 'think as if you're playing for India in your next domestic match and score runs there as well'. "So I only had one job, that was to score runs whereever I'm playing," Sarfaraz said.
"From my childhood, I have been hearing stories about the importance of Test cricket. My father kept telling me the importance of the longest format of the game. It's not like there was no pressure, I felt pressure when I was playing my maiden series," Sarfaraz added.
The former India U-19 player expressed his gratitude to Indian icon Sunil Gavaskar to supporting his selection over the years. In January 2023, Gavaskar had mentioned that the selectors should be picking players on the basis of their form with the bat or ball, and merely on the basis of their shape or physique, referring to the continued ignorance of Sarfaraz over the years.
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"I want to say thank you to Gavaskar sir, who has helped and supported me," Sarfaraz said.
"My Instagram followers have grown to 1.5 million after my Test debut. For the last four years, it was 600-700k followers on Instagram. Suddenly, after playing for India, it has become 1.5 million. It's good," Sarfaraz signed off on a heartfelt note!
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