The ancient legend of Indian cricket, the Prince of Calcutta – Sourav Ganguly has proposed the next target to achieve for Mumbai-born batsman Sarfaraz Khan, who made a dream Test debut for India in his third Test victory at Rajkot by 434 runs. The aggressive right-handed batsman hit consecutive fifties in innings to become the fourth Indian to do so after Dilawar Hussain, Sunil Gavaskar and Shreyas Iyer.
The fact that Sarfaraz Khan is going through a roses and daffodils period in his early career in international cricket has a lot to do with his consistent effort for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. His compilation of runs after runs, season after season, has been widely appreciated by all the former cricketers of the country and also by captain Rohit Sharma.
Sarfaraz Khan’s consistent routine in Ranji Trophy hailed by Sourav Ganguly
Even after scoring many runs in the domestic circuit, Sarfaraz had to wait for a long time to be considered for the Indian team and if such a day came, it was only because of his hard work and exceptional level of patience. His father Naushad Khan also played an important role in his journey and scoring spree in the domestic red-ball circuit, in which he scored 4042 runs in 70.91.
Sarfaraz Khan’s journey from the Mumbai Maidans to the senior dressing room is something to admire, feels Sourav Ganguly, who stated that the next batch of cricketers should learn from him and also from his 22-year-old teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal.
“Jaiswal is not only a good player but is capable of playing in all formats of the game. Sarfaraz has started well. He now he has to score in foreign countries. Sarfaraz is a good example for budding cricketers, who should keep in mind that if they score consistently, they will get their chances.” – Ganguly told Mid Day.
Sarfaraz’s first Test innings in Rajkot came on Day 1, when Rohit Sharma emerged from the crease after amassing 132 runs and defending a 204-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja to take India from 33/3 to 237/4. The stage was perfectly set for the 26-year-old to come in and express himself like he has been doing for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy since 2014.
And so he did batting with a strike rate of 93, scoring a tremendous debut fifty, helped India cross the 300 mark but left the crease as a result of an unfortunate exit that was entirely Jadeja’s mistake. After that 62 off 66, Sarfaraz Khan, scored 68 runs in the third innings, racking up a 72-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal that helped India achieve a 500-plus target.
“Lots of new faces and yet England are struggling,” Ganguly brutally attacks Ben Stokes’ team
Although England Captain Ben Stokes believes his team can overturn the 2-1 deficit and win the series 3-2. Sourav Ganguly, who retired after scoring 11,000 ODI runs, feels England have no chance of recovering and will be shocked if India lose now.
“Bazball is good, but it is difficult for England to succeed in Indian conditions. I would be surprised if India lost the series. Remember that India is playing without Virat. [Kohli]kl [Rahul]. “It is a young team with many new faces and yet England are struggling.” – Ganguly concluded.
