The making of a First Class batting colossus: the story of Sarfaraz Khan

You’ll have come throughout the three Ps and three Ds in self-help books. Sarfaraz Khan, the record-breaking Mumbai run machine, has been performing such distinctive feats that he deserves new terminology devised particularly for him. A child from the by-lanes of Kurla, a central Mumbai suburb, Sarfaraz isn’t one for company jargon; he prefers ‘Bambaiya’ lingo. However having tracked his cricketing sojourn for over a decade, one can sum him up within the 4 Os: Obsession, Excellent, Occupation and Alternative. Let’s have a look at every of those aspects.

Obsession

Hours after being adjudged the Participant of the Match in Mumbai’s remaining Ranji Trophy league sport in Ahmedabad, Sarfaraz reaches his residence in Taximen’s Colony in Kurla at round 10 p.m. The very first thing he asks his father Naushad is whether or not the ‘nets’ are booked for the morning.

At 7 a.m. the following day, Sarfaraz is padded up on the Karnatak Sporting Affiliation at Azad Maidan, prepared for the each day drill of going through at the very least 200 balls within the session (he’ll repeat this dose on a makeshift turf pitch exterior his home within the afternoon).

That is the routine Sarfaraz has adopted ever since he was hailed as a ‘boy surprise’ in Mumbai’s college cricket circles a decade in the past. The 24-year-old has had a topsy-turvy journey although. He has loved the excessive of taking part in two Underneath-19 World Cups and being retained by an IPL franchise forward of an overhaul. Then got here a difficult section when he left Mumbai for Uttar Pradesh earlier than returning to the home powerhouse and establishing himself as a significant cog.

Sarfaraz’s stupendous success — he averages a staggering 77.74 in First Class cricket — has been pushed by his dedication and maturity on the crease. However the stocky batter says the runs are additionally a consequence of making an attempt to repay his father’s religion and onerous work. In some ways, he has been residing his father’s dream.

Sarfaraz Khan at Cross maidan.
| Picture Credit score: EMMANUAL YOGINI

“I’ve struggled rather a lot. Particularly with Abbu. Even after taking part in two World Cups, the IPL, to be lined up alongside 400-odd cricketers for choice trials (in Uttar Pradesh in 2016-17) and put on the badge of participant No. 315, it was fairly bizarre. I used to really feel dangerous for Abbu. We used to remain in a resort and Abbu would have sleepless nights,” says Sarfaraz, having taken a break from his morning drill and made manner for Naushad, who has padded up to make sure the “web bowlers don’t really feel like losing their time”.

“He has labored so onerous on me that I really feel I’ve to do it for Abbu. I don’t know whether or not I’ll finally find yourself taking part in for India however I need all his onerous work to repay. That’s what I’m striving for. He has left all the things for our cricket, so I’m glad that he has that [chance] to see his son scoring so closely in Ranji Trophy, that too for a staff like Mumbai. To play for Mumbai in itself is an enormous deal. And to have the ability to play once more means lots.”

For a way of the household’s obsession with cricket, pattern this: in the course of the pandemic-enforced lockdown, Naushad drove his sons and a few native web bowlers in an SUV all the way in which to Azamgarh, his ancestral city in Uttar Pradesh, to make sure they stayed taking part in cricket. For the following 12 months or so, the Khans would drive to each city and metropolis throughout north India that provided the chance to play a observe sport or have an outside web session.

“Be it Meerut, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Azamgarh…. he would drive us throughout north India. In Mumbai, individuals couldn’t drive down for 2 hours and right here we have been, travelling throughout India in our automotive to play cricket,” Sarfaraz says.

“Abbu would drive us throughout in order that our cricket didn’t cease. Typically once I journey to different locations within the north — be it Delhi or Jaipur or Mohali — I really feel as if it’s a house sport and never away. I’m so used to taking part in in these situations that acclimatisation is rarely a problem.”

Excellent

You can’t separate Naushad — a former Western Railway cricketer who has devoted his life to moulding Sarfaraz and his youthful brother Musheer, an all-rounder, into stylish cricketers — from Sarfaraz’s cricketing journey. However today is about Sarfaraz. And Naushad realises it and doesn’t intervene even as soon as when Sarfaraz is chatting with The Hindu.

Sarfaraz Khan together with his father Naushad Khan.
| Picture Credit score: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Ask the plain-speaking Sarfaraz how nicely he remembers his First Class tons of and pat comes the reply: “Six centuries… ek (one) triple, three doubles as a result of a triple can also be counted as a double. And each century is 150-plus, the one I scored for UP was 150 (155), it’s the lowest.”

He says it as a matter of reality. However his returns since returning to Mumbai in January 2020 after a three-year hiatus are gargantuan: 1,564 runs in 15 innings at 142.18! And he isn’t a wee bit stunned by his phenomenal consistency, be it for Mumbai or for India-A towards an all-international bowling assault in South Africa.

“I used to attain closely in class cricket, so it feels the identical. I’ve completed the identical all my life, be it at Azad Maidan or a membership floor or at an enormous stadium, I simply am used to going by way of the motions and scoring runs,” he says.

“Day by day brings a brand new problem, a brand new ball, a brand new set of bowlers and it simply doesn’t really feel like I scored 100 yesterday. It simply looks like I’ve to work another time and undergo the routine and the method another time and rating runs. That’s what I’ve completed since college cricket and since I began coaching with Abbu.”

And what’s the key behind his daddy tons of? The response provides a peek into his mindset.

“Loads of gamers are inclined to play a rash stroke after attending to the hundred. As soon as I have a good time the hundred, I maintain telling myself — clearly each batter needs to attain 100 — ‘your goal is achieved, now do it for the staff by changing it into an enormous one’.

“Additionally, there are such a lot of high quality gamers who rating tons of,” he says. “If you wish to stand out, it’s important to rating huge tons of, so I anticipate four-five balls after the hundred after which begin taking part in freely. Until the 100, I are inclined to plan in 10s, as soon as I cross the 100, I begin it in 20s or 30s as a result of each 20-30 runs that I add, not solely will I get to a different milestone however I might be taking the staff to security.”

Occupation

Along with being obsessive about making it huge as a cricketer and residing his father’s dream, a modified batting outlook has additionally helped Sarfaraz. He has begun treating the match as his “workplace” and batting as his “job”. He refers to a dialogue from M.S. Dhoni’s biographical function movie: “Responsibility ke baad bhi observe (Your observe continues even after workplace hours)”.

“For me, it’s obligation ke pehle and workplace ke baad bhi observe (it’s observe each earlier than and after workplace),” he says. “I don’t have an off day. If I’m not taking part in a match, I face at the very least 400 balls a day as soon as Daddy wakes me up at 5 a.m.”

So how does he put his astounding kind into perspective? “I’ve all the time been grounded, whether or not I rating or not. I do know that you just get pleasure from while you carry out nicely however there are all the time extra unhappy days in life. That’s why we don’t are inclined to get excited. Even once I rating, I don’t throw events, nor do I attend anybody else’s. I don’t have a good time my birthday, nor do I attend another person’s party,” Sarfaraz says.

“My Daddy says, ‘You’ve got so many followers and followers, so if you find yourself being associates with everybody, somebody could have his or her birthday. So in the event you attend a party on daily basis, when will you play cricket?’ So I don’t exit a lot nor does our family get over-excited with any achievement. For us, doing nicely is like our each day job. And I’ve been studying one thing on daily basis. However I maintain telling myself two issues: to not repeat the identical mistake and observe no matter Daddy says.”

Alternative

As somebody who adapts to red-ball and white-ball codecs as seamlessly as he switches between “Abbu” and “Daddy” when he refers to Naushad, Sarfaraz is making a robust case for an India call-up. One can sense that he desperately wishes that India cap, particularly with the sensational kind he has been in, however he spells his place out calmly.

“There can be at the very least 500 cricketers toiling round us right here on the maidan proper now. And every certainly one of us aspires to play for India. At any time when the possibility comes, I’ve to be prepared for it. That’s all that I’m prepping for. If I can do it, I do know I shall make my Daddy completely satisfied. And that’s what issues essentially the most,” Sarfaraz says, earlier than padding up once more and changing Naushad within the nets.

Whereas Sarfaraz’s range-hitting retains fielders and bystanders on their toes, Naushad expresses the hope that Sarfaraz will get an opportunity on the earliest in his new IPL franchise, the Delhi Capitals.

Had the Ranji Trophy not been postponed because of the Omicron variant, Sarfaraz might nicely have triggered a bidding struggle as a substitute of being purchased at base worth within the accelerated public sale. However as he begins strolling in direction of his father’s SUV — the identical one which had was his digital home-cum-cricket room in the course of the lockdown — Sarfaraz has a parting shot.

“It’s not in regards to the cash. It’s in regards to the alternative.”

With the dazzling kind and way of thinking he’s in, don’t be stunned if Sarfaraz provides ‘Optimisation’ to his 4 Os the second he will get a possibility within the IPL.