Is it high time for Sarfaraz Khan’s Test debut?

Mumbai, 41-time champions, lost the Ranji Trophy final to Madhya Pradesh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday. Aditya Shrivastava and co chased down a 108-run target in 29.5 overs, with opener Himanshu Mantri (37) top-scoring in the second innings. 

While a lot is being said about Madhya Pradesh’s brilliant cricket display under the guidance of six-time Ranji Trophy winning coach Chandrakant Pandit, there were stars in Mumbai’s campaign too. One name that kept coming up as Prithvi Shaw’s men progressed in the premier domestic tournament was that of Sarfaraz Khan. 

The 24-year-old, who represented the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022, finished the Ranji season as the top run-scorer. He had 982 runs against his name in six matches at a whopping average of more than 122. Khan made four tons and two half-centuries, including a 401-ball 275 against Saurashtra. 

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The Ranji 2021/22 season made Sarfaraz Khan only the third player to score 900-plus runs in two different editions. He had amassed  928 runs in the 2019-20 season. Ajay Sharma and Wasim Jaffer are the other players to have breached the 900-run mark in a Ranji Trophy season on two occasions.

During the season, the Mumbai batter’s First Class average touched 82.83. It was the second-highest for any batter with 2000-plus runs in the format. The great Donald Bradman leads the list with an average of 95.14.

Khan managed to haunt Madhya Pradesh in the final. In the first innings, he made 134 runs in 243 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and two maximums. It was the first time the 24-year-old failed to convert his hundred into a 150-plus score in first-class cricket. 

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“Credit goes to my father. I am just trying to score as many runs and stay at the wicket for as long as possible. I keep trying to play as many games as I can. From my childhood we have been playing and we know how to play in what situation,” Sarfaraz Khan said after being named the Player of the Series. 

Sarfaraz Khan in Ranji Trophy 2022:

Innings – 9

Runs – 982

Highest Score – 275

Average – 122.75

Strike Rate – 69.54

Hundreds – 4

Fifties – 2

Fours – 93

Sixes – 16