Sarfaraz Khan, dropped from India’s squad for the England Test series, scored a fine 92 against England Lions at Canterbury today (May 30).
Walking out at No.4 after the early dismissals of India A skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (8) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) - both picked in India’s side for the upcoming Test tour - Sarfaraz fell just short of his 17th first-class ton. The 27-year-old hit 13 fours in 119 deliveries, batting with maturity on a wicket that had plenty of grass cover, and provided seam and swing for the faster bowlers.
Sarfaraz, along with No.3 Karun Nair, who has made a Test comeback after playing his last game nearly eight years ago, saw off the early threat, taking India A over the 200-run mark. He batted with a strike rate of 77.31, sending a strong message to the selectors after he was omitted for the five Tests.
Having made 350 runs at an average of 58.33 in his first four Tests, including a fine 150 against New Zealand, his form tapered off as he managed scores of 11, 9, 0 and 1 in his next four innings. Sarfaraz did not play a single Test against Australia and was not picked for the England tour after chief selector Ajit Agarkar preferred the experience of Nair in the side. "At the moment, we feel Karun has put up heaps of runs over the last couple of seasons," he said. "He's played a little bit of Test cricket early in his career, and has played a bit of county cricket. We feel that he's batting well enough.
"Also now with Virat not there, clearly lacking a little bit of experience in the batting. Jaiswal is touring [England] for the first time. I know Gill has played one Test match [there]. It's only KL and Pant who have played a series there before. So we felt Nair's experience could help. Sometimes it is going to be unfair on somebody else but eventually you've got to make choices."
Sarfaraz Khan in overseas first-class games
This is Sarfaraz’s fifth first-class game in a SENA country, where he has scores of 71*, 14, 68 and 34 and 92. The highlight was his innings against South Africa A in 2022 at Bloemfontein, where he struck 71* in 94 balls after his side had collapsed to 76-4. He also hit two sixes in the game. In 2023, at Potchefstroom, he played another quickfire innings of 68 after his team were 71-2.
Sarfaraz has a first-class average of 65.99, the fifth-highest in the world among all batters who have batted in at least 50 innings.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
