Sarfaraz Khan on Friday said his father Noshad urged him to play domestic matches as if he were playing for his country and despite his high scores in the national circuit, his selection for the Indian team was delayed . Sarfaraz finally got a chance to play for India in the recently concluded five-match Test series against England, where he showed his quality by scoring three half-centuries. Although the Mumbai cricketer scored a staggering record of 3,912 runs with 14 centuries at an average of 69.85, he did not get a breakthrough in the Indian team. Even the legendary Sunil Gavaskar backed his Test selection last year after seeing him score a lot in domestic cricket.
“I would ask my father when I would get a chance to play for India and if anyone was supporting us. He would just tell me one thing, ‘Think of yourself playing for India in the next domestic game and scoring runs there too’.
“So I have only one job and that is to score runs wherever I bat,” Sarfaraz told the India Today Conclave here.
Sarfaraz was handed a Test cap by former India captain Anil Kumble ahead of the third Test in Rajkot, where he scored two half-tons to emulate the Gavaskar.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always heard stories about the importance of Test match cricket. My father has always told me the importance of the longest format of the game. It’s not that there’s no pressure, when I play my maiden Test series , I felt the pressure,” Sarfaraz said.
Sarfaraz thanked Gavaskar for supporting his cause. Responding to the cricketer’s non-eligibility for the Tests in January last year, Gavaskar said selectors should not select players based on their size or physique but should be based on their form with the bat or ball.
“I would like to express my gratitude to Gavaskar sir for helping and supporting me.” Sarfaraz said his social media following grew exponentially while playing for India.
“After my Test debut, my Instagram followers have grown to 1.5 million. In the last four years, the number of followers on Instagram was 600,000 to 700,000. All of a sudden, after playing for the Indian team, the number of followers on Instagram It has increased to 1.5 million. That is good,” Sarfaraz said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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