Sarfaraz Khan Introduction
Sarfaraz Khan’s story is has been a perfect mixed bag until now. If we consider his journey, from living in the suburbs to where he is now, we can clearly deduce that his story has indeed been that of a success. But things are not as they might seem. Khan is a player who once broke Sachin Tendulkar’s ‘nearly unbreakable’ record, shattered many other records while still being very young, and was poised to be one of India’s best players in the coming years.
Considering that fact, one might think that Khan’s story is that of ‘what could have been’. Throughout his career, Khan had to deal with problems not pertaining to his batting. There was never any question mark on his enormous talent, but fitness is an issue he had to deal with. The other thing which bothered Khan was his overly aggressive mindset. He had to consult a doctor to get better.
Sarfaraz Khan Batting and Fielding Averages
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-class | 17 | 26 | 4 | 1463 | 301* | 66.50 | 2010 | 72.78 | 4 | 4 | 178 | 32 | 11 | 0 |
| List A | 13 | 11 | 4 | 257 | 100 | 36.71 | 267 | 96.25 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| T20s | 56 | 41 | 14 | 633 | 67 | 23.44 | 457 | 138.51 | 0 | 2 | 63 | 19 | 19 | 0 |
Sarfaraz Khan Bowling Averages
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-class | 17 | 5 | 78 | 53 | 0 | – | – | – | 4.07 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| List A | 13 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | 4.00 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T20s | 56 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | – | – | – | 18.00 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sarfaraz Khan Early Life
- Sarfaraz Khan was born on October 22, 1997, in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- His father’s name is Naushad Khan.
- His father is a cricket coach. He has guided many renowned cricketers like Iqbal Abdullah and Kamran Khan.
- Most of his childhood was spent in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan.
- His father started to teach his kid when he found out the talent that Khan had in himself.
- Khan had a synthetic pitch laid out in his house. This was done because it was practically impossible to reach the Azad Maidan in the monsoon. The pitch helped him learn the art of tackling bounce.
- Because he was completely into cricket, he was unable to attend school for 4 years. He studied under a private tutor.
- Though Khan has always been a very promising cricketer, his claim to fame was when he broke a 45-year-old record, which was previously held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. That happened in a Harris Shield game of 2009. He scored 439 runs off 421 balls.
- During his school days, he played for the Rizvi Springfield School.
- After impressing the selectors in the Harris Shield, he got selected for the Mumbai U19 team. Brilliant performances for them helped him earn an India U19 call up.
- Because of his love for food and carefree attitude, his friends call him ‘panda’.
- Khan had a fair share of controversy regarding his age as well. In 2011, a school team accused Khan of forging his age. In papers, he was still 13 years of age, whereas the bone tests claimed that he was actually 15. Those claims, however, were rubbished when further advanced tests revealed that he actually was 13 years of age.
- Though there was no further questions regarding his age, that incident drained him emotionally. He was so disturbed that it took him 3 months to get his focus back on cricket.
- He was also draped in controversies when he made some offensive gestures at the official selectors during a U19 game for Mumbai.
- He plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL.
Sarfaraz Khan Domestic Career
- Khan made his List A debut on March 2, 2014. It was against Saurashtra in Rajkot. He scored an unbeaten 11-ball 17 in that match.
- He made his T20 debut exactly a month later, against the same opposition. This time, the match was being held in Mumbai. He scored a brilliant unbeaten 20-ball 36 in this game.
- Khan’s first-class debut came in December of that year, against Bengal at Kolkata. This debut, however, was below par. Khan could only score a run before Bengal’s veteran pacer Ashok Dinda trapped him leg before wicket.
Sarfaraz Khan Achievements
- He became the youngest player to play an IPL game, and also the only uncapped player who was retained by any IPL franchise.
- Alongside his brother Musheer, he featured in the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
- He scored an unbeaten 101 from just 66 balls against South Africa Under 19. That innings included 17 fours and a six.
- He was the second-highest run-scorer of the 2016 Under 19 World Cup. He scored 355 runs in 6 innings. His average was over 70.
