Sarfaraz Khan made a swashbuckling start in the five-match home Test series against England towards the start of the year. The middle-order batter ended with 200 runs in five innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of nearly 80 with the help of three half-centuries and a best score of unbeaten 68 runs.
With that performance, it was almost a guarantee that Sarfaraz Khan would cement his spot in the Test side of the Indian team. But, once KL Rahul, who was injured in the home series, made a return, the team management decided to omit the 26-year-old and went with the veteran opening batter.
Rahul didn’t have a great time in the first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, as he could score only 16 runs in the first innings before being dismissed by the spinner, while in the second innings, Rohit Sharma declared the innings when the Karnataka-born was batting well for 22 runs.
Sarfaraz Khan to feature for Mumbai in Irani Cup 2024
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to release the Mumbai-born player for the upcoming Irani Cup 2024, which will be a massive boost for the state team as they look forward to facing the Rest of India side in Lucknow, from October 01, under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane.
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The second Test will be played from September 27 at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, while the Irani Trophy will be played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium.
The inclusion of Sarfaraz Khan, who has smashed 4183 runs in 50 first-class games at an average of 66.39 and a strike rate of over 70 with the help of 14 centuries and as many as half-centuries with a best score of unbeaten 301 runs, will settle the middle order of the Mumbai side along with Shreyas Iyer.
“India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar is keen that barring any last-minute injuries in the nets or fitness issues to any of the main batsmen in Team India, Sarfaraz should be released from the main squad to allow him to play in the Irani Cup.” The source was revealed during an interaction with the Times of India (TOI). “In any case, it takes just about an hour to reach Lucknow from Kanpur, so Sarfaraz Khan can leave for Lucknow even much after the Kanpur Test has begun.”
However, their pacer Tushar Deshpande will miss the clash due to undergoing surgery following his injury on his ankle and knee and will miss the initial rounds of the Ranji Trophies. He can make his comeback for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy in November.
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The younger brother of Sarfaraz Khan, the new youngster Musheer Khan, is expected to open the batting with Prithvi Shaw in the Irani Cup as he is coming on the back of 181 runs knock at the Duleep Trophy and has opened for the DY Patil team in Mumbai’s local tournaments.
Sarfaraz has lost his position in the team for now, but he will look to continue his good form in the domestic season, through the Irani Cup and the Ranji Trophy. His eyes will be on the upcoming Australia trip for the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, as India can plan to have him in the middle order because of his attacking mode of the game.
