IND vs ENG: Sarfaraz Khan Blasts Brilliant 96 Runs Against England Lions A Day After India Snub

Mumbai-born batter Sarfaraz Khan, who has been constantly overlooked by the Indian selectors, played out an emphatic knock of 96 during India A’s tour match against England Lions at Narendra Modi Stadium’s B ground.

Sarfaraz Khan was actually supposed to play for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season but he instead chose to represent the A team, which is supposed to play 3 more unofficial Tests against the England Lions. Led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, India A conceded a total of 233 against England in 1st inning.

The visitors had won the toss and asked India A to bowl first. Following a decent start given by openers Keaton Jennings and Alex Lees, the English team suffered a sudden middle-order collapse which saw their number 3, 4, and 5 batters getting out for 7, 8, and 1 respectively.

It was not until Ollie Robinson and Dan Mousley took command and steadied their ship. While Robinson missed out on his half-century by 5 runs, Mousley departed after scoring 60 important runs. And then the tailenders could score as much as 40 runs to post 233 on the board.

In the 2nd innings, Easwaran and Rajat Patidar got off to a great start with the latter scoring 111 off 141 before his departure and the captain departed for 32. Then after Pradosh Ranjan got out for 21, Sarfaraz Khan and KS Bharat took the charge in the middle.

The duo stood for a partnership of 121 runs and both of them looked formidable in the middle. Especially Sarfaraz Khan who still has a lot to prove to BCCI selectors was not in a mood to stop as he kept backing himself and played his trademark shots with full confidence in a flat deck at Ahmedabad.

Sarfaraz Khan was looking unstoppable throughout the course of his innings. He was looking well on course to complete a famous century for India A but soon after KS Bharat’s dismissal for 64, Sarfaraz followed suit 10 runs later after a fantastic knock of 96 off 110.

His knock included 11 fours and 1 six and batted at a strike rate of 87.27. Sarfaraz and Bharat’s partnership helped India A to have an upper hand on the match but the Mumbaikar will be disappointed to have missed out from a century by just 4 runs.

Can Sarfaraz Khan Receive Maiden Test Call Up For The Last 3 Tests?

The BCCI announced a 16-man squad last night for the first 2 Tests in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh and of course, Sarfaraz Khan was not a part of it. Though there are 2 players from this India A side, namely KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel.

And if in case Sarfaraz Khan shines in the remaining 3 unofficial Tests with India A, then a door might open up for him to receive his maiden Test call-up from the National side. But as we all know there are very less probabilities of Sarfaraz being called up by Rahul Dravid.

That’s mainly because, Sarfaraz Khan is someone who has not been considered despite scoring 3692 runs in just 43 matches for Mumbai at an unbelievable average of almost 70, including 13 centuries and 10 half-centuries. It will be interesting to see the next developments with Sarfaraz but no one will be shocked if he is ignored yet again.