Cricket News

‘I had tears in my eyes’ – Sarfaraz Khan reveals reason behind emotional celebration in Ranji Trophy Final

Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan came into the limelight in the year 2015 when he made his Indian T20 League debut at the age of 17 for the Bangalore franchise. He was one of the rising talents from the tournament. The batter once again made headlines for his stupendous run in the recently-concluded Ranji season. The batter scored a staggering 982 runs in nine innings, including a hundred in the final.

He recently revealed that he was once in tears, thinking that he would never play for Mumbai again. He also said that it was his dream to score a hundred in the domestic competition for Mumbai.

He further said that he was determined to play for Mumbai, and told his father that if not for Mumbai, he would leave playing the game. The Mumbai batter scored a century in the Ranji Trophy final against Madhya Pradesh and was reduced to tears after completing the milestone. He called that as his best innings to date.

“When I had left Mumbai and was on my way to UP, I had played U14, U16, U19, U25 as well as Ranji Trophy for Mumbai,” Sarfaraz told Sportskeeda. “So we all know that jumbo bag of blue colour in which I was filling all my Ranji Trophy clothes,” said Khan

In the final, Sarfaraz’s 134 and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 78 helped Mumbai put up a total of 374. Madhya Pradesh, in reply, amassed a total of 536. Mumbai got bowled out cheaply in their third innings after trailing 162 runs, and ended up with a total of 269. Madhya Pradesh chased the target of 108 in only 29.5 overs with six wickets in hand.

“So when I was storing that bag as we no longer needed that kit, I had tears in my eyes as it was my dream to score a Ranji Trophy hundred in Mumbai clothes,” said Sarfaraz. “I was emotional because I thought I would never play for Mumbai again. I even wanted my photo to come in the newspapers where I have taken off my helmet and I am showing my bat after scoring the hundred,” he added.

“I was determined to play for Mumbai so I told my father that if I play cricket, I will play for Mumbai or I will leave playing the game,” added the 24-year-old.