The legend of Sarfaraz Khan as a domestic doyen is growing from strength to strength as his authoritative double hundred for Mumbai not only put the Rest of India under immediate pressure in the ongoing Irani Cup but will also keep the seasoned KL Rahul on his toes when the Indian team embarks on the Test tour of Australia next month.
Sarfaraz (221 batting, 276 balls) became the first-ever cricketer to score an Irani Cup double hundred for Mumbai, with the 42-time champions reaching 536 for 9 at the end of the second day.
Wasim Jaffer (Vidarbha), Ravi Shastri, Praveen Amre and Yashasvi Jaiswal (all for the Rest of India) are double centurions in the Irani Cup.
It has been a tough week for Sarfaraz as his younger brother Musheer, who was also supposed to play the game, was ruled out of competitive cricket for 16 weeks after a road accident.
If his brother and father Naushad’s car accident had perturbed him, it didn’t seem so in his batting as he went hammer and tongs at the Rest of India bowling attack.
He played 160 dot balls but still maintained an 80 per cent strike rate, largely due to his 25 boundaries and four sixes.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane (97 off 234 balls) missed out on a 40th first-class hundred but the second day belonged to Sarfaraz, who was in a mood to punish pacers and spinners alike.
His 15th first-class century will certainly dispel all doubts about his slot as reserve middle-order batter for the remainder of the Test season (8 games).
Rahul, who got back his middle-order slot from Sarfaraz, did well in Kanpur but the team management and even the Karnataka batter knows that the stockily built Mumbaikar is breathing down his neck.
The Ekana Stadium track had underlying moisture on the second day and the dampness contributed to the ball seaming around initially and the extra bounce made it challenging for batters.
His driving on the off-side was regal while there is nothing more to add to his footwork against spinners. He was brutal, especially against left-arm spinner Manav Suthar (0/137 in 37 overs), who looked clueless.
After a certain point, he employed the negative leg-stump line and Sarfaraz would either slightly go inside out or bend down on one knee to slog sweep it for maximums.
Along with Tanush Kotian (64), he added 183 for the seventh wicket, which demoralised the Rest of India bowling unit to a large extent.
Once he completed his double hundred, he let out a roar and kissed the Lion’s crest on his shirt before hitting his best shot of the day. A hooked six over deep fine leg off Prasidh Krishna and a ramp shot earlier in the day using the extra pace and bounce were fitting answers to his critics who have raised doubts about his game on this kind of track.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 1st Innings 536/9 decl (Sarfaraz Khan 221 batting, Ajinkya Rahane 97, Mukesh Kumar 4/109, Yash Dayal 2/89, Prasidh Krishna 2/102) vs Rest of India.
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