'Mumbai cricket is behind Sarfaraz Khan': Ajinkya Rahane declares war on Ajit Agarkar
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After having voiced against the unfair treatment of himself by the Indian selectors, Ajinkya Rahane has further backed Mumbai teammate Sarfaraz Khan, whose non-selection for India A has become a communal as well as political issue in the country recently.
Sarfaraz Khan's snub from the India A squad for the upcoming series against South Africa A has taken an unexpected turn as the Indian politicians have grabbed this opportunity to bring in religious sentiments into the game of cricket. Though Sarfaraz has kept himself away from such communal remarks.
Khan was expected to make his comeback with the West Indies series; however, the selectors ignored him. He was further ignored for India A as well, as they mentioned his long absence from the game calls for a good domestic run before an India comeback.
Ajinkya Rahane extends massive support to Sarfaraz Khan
As Ajinkya Rahane extended his support to Sarfaraz Khan, he said that it's the challenging phase in his career and advised him to focus on the things he can alter as a cricketer; the rest depends on his fate and the selectors. Ajinkya Rahane said:
"I think it's really challenging as a player. He did so well for Mumbai in domestic cricket, scored big hundreds, and did well in the Test series as well against New Zealand. But the only thing I can tell him is to not get distracted and not be frustrated.
"It's very easy to say, but very hard to do. But he just needs to focus on playing cricket and keep scoring runs. As a player, when you go through this phase, it's really challenging, but Mumbai cricket is behind him."
"I'm sure his family is there to support him. He just needs to keep his head down and keep doing well. We know how good he is as a batsman, and he has scored so many runs in domestic cricket. But it's about time. So, I would tell him to keep his head down and just focus on the controllable things."
Rahane backs Mumbai players to play at the highest level of the game
Earlier, Ajinkya Rahane also backed Mumbai cricketers, a team he has played for throughout his career, and the team that has produced several legendary cricketers for the Indian national team. He said that as a player, he wants to see Mumbai players play at the highest level of the game.
Ajinkya Rahane himself played for India across all three formats of the game, though he was the most successful in the longest format of the game. He had amassed about 3000 runs in the ODI format as well. Though Rahane was never part of a World Cup squad that reached the finals, he played in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, where India lost the final to Pakistan.
Sarfaran Khan failed to score runs against Chhattisgarh after India A snub
Sarfaraz Khan has been backed by several greats of the game and has been equally praised by his Mumbai teammates. But despite all the hype around the player, he has failed to prove himself in the Ranji Trophy so far.
In the game where Rahane top-scored with a stunning 159, Sarfaraz Khan was dismissed for just 1 off 6 balls, without troubling the batters a lot. Khan, though, made his comeback from injury with a hundred in the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament.
Tagged:
India National Cricket Team Sarfaraz Khan Ajinkya Rahane Mumbai Ranji Team Ranji Trophy Ajit Agarkar
