Sarfaraz Khan Hits A Triple Century For Mumbai In The Ranji Trophy; Joins An Elite List Of Players

Upcoming young sensation batsman Sarfaraz Khan struck his maiden first-class triple-ton at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday against Uttar Pradesh to spearhead Mumbai’s fightback. Uttar Pradesh had piled up an enormous total of 625 in their first innings, led by a double-hundred from Upendra Yadav and a century from Akshadeep Nath.

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In reply, Mumbai found themselves in trouble when the opposition reduced them to 128-4 at one point. Sarfaraz Khan, along with Siddhesh Lad, plotted a rescue mission for their side by threading a stand of 210. Siddesh Lad went back for 98 while Sarfaraz remained unbeaten on 301 that gave them a lead of 63 and eventually forced a draw in the Ranji Trophy encounter. Gloveman Aditya Tare came up with an invaluable knock of 97 while Shams Mulani compiled a quick-fire 65.

Our members @WagheVaibhav @Mahesh_no1 cheer aloud from the MCA pavilion as Sarfaraz Khan nudges one around the corner to get to a Terrific 200* in his massive effort of chasing down the UP 1st innings total.

Mumbai 503-5#MUMvUP pic.twitter.com/FgUlmAhKvi

— North Stand Gang – Wankhede (@NorthStandGang) January 22, 2020

The 22-year old, whose knock included 30 fours and eight maximums, dedicated his innings to the MCA, who kept their faith in him and gave him a second chance. The Mumbai-born batsman, who previously played for Uttar Pradesh due to his father’s decision, turned emotional since he thought he would never be able to play for Mumbai again and called this as a dream come true.

“I was just delighted and would like to thank MCA for giving me another chance. It [century] was due for a long time. I am glad I scored my first century for Mumbai. It was daddy’s [coach Naushad Khan] decision [to play for UP]. I still remember when I was leaving for UP and packing my Mumbai Ranji team’s clothing, I was literally crying because of my love for Mumbai. I never thought I would play for Mumbai again. I still can’t believe I came back and played for Mumbai. It’s like a dream.” Sarfaraz said as quoted by India Today.

Youngster joins some elite list by amassing a massive score:

On striking a triple hundred, Sarfaraz Khan became only the seventh player for Mumbai after Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Wasim Jaffer, Rohit Sharma, Vijay Merchant, and Ajit Wadekar to achieve the feat. Run-machine Wasim Jaffer is the only batsman from the Ranji team to hit a triple-century twice.

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