The legend of Sarfaraz Khan as a home doyen is rising from energy to energy as his authoritative double hundred for Mumbai not solely put Rest of India below instant stress within the ongoing Irani Cup however may even maintain the seasoned KL Rahul on toes when the Indian workforce embarks on the Test tour of Australia subsequent month. Sarfaraz (221 batting, 276 balls) turned the primary ever cricketer to attain an Irani Cup double hundred for Mumbai, with the 42-time champions reaching 536 for 9 on the finish of the second day.
Wasim Jaffer (Vidarbha), Ravi Shastri, Praveen Amre and Yashasvi Jaiswal (all for Rest of India) are double centurions within the Irani Cup.
It has been a tricky week for Sarfaraz as his youthful brother Musheer, who was additionally presupposed to play the sport, was dominated out of aggressive cricket for 16 weeks after a highway accident.
If his brother and father Naushad’s automotive accident had perturbed him, it did not appear so in his batting as he went hammer and tongs on the Rest of India bowling assault.
He performed 160 dot balls however nonetheless maintained a 80 p.c strike-rate, largely as a result of his 25 boundaries and 4 sixes.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane (97 off 234 balls) missed out on a fortieth first-class hundred however the second day belonged to Sarfaraz, who was in a temper to punish pacers and spinners alike.
His fifteenth first-class century will definitely dispel all doubts about his slot as reserve middle-order batter for the rest of the Test season (8 video games).
Rahul, who acquired again his middle-order slot from Sarfaraz, did nicely in Kanpur however the workforce administration and even the Karnataka batter is aware of that the stockily constructed Mumbaikar is respiration down his neck.
The Ekana Stadium observe had underlying moisture on the second day and the dampness contributed to ball seaming round initially and the additional bounce made it difficult for batters.
His driving on the off-side was regal whereas there may be nothing extra so as to add to his footwork in opposition to spinners. He was brutal, particularly in opposition to left-arm spinner Manav Suthar (0/137 in 37 overs), who seemed clueless.
After a sure level, he employed the unfavorable leg-stump line and Sarfaraz would both barely go inside out or bent down on one knee to slog sweep it for maximums.
Along with Tanush Kotian (64), he added 183 for the seventh wicket, which demoralised the Rest of India bowling unit to a big extent.
Once he accomplished his double hundred, he let loose a roar and kissed the Lion’s crest on his shirt earlier than hitting his greatest shot of the day. A hooked six over deep fantastic leg off Prasidh Krishna and a ramp shot earlier within the day utilizing the additional tempo and bounce have been becoming solutions to his critics who’ve raised doubts about his sport on these sort of tracks.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 1st Innings 536/9 decl (Sarfaraz Khan 221 batting, Ajinkya Rahane 97, Mukesh Kumar 4/109, Yash Dayal 2/89, Prasidh Krishna 2/102) vs Rest of India.
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