Sarfaraz's double century propels Mumbai to the top position

Lucknow: Sarfaraz Khan continues to prove that he is a standout talent in Indian cricket. He consistently delivers impressive performances, scoring big runs no matter the circumstances. His latest display of outstanding batting skills came on Wednesday when he became the first Mumbai player to score a double century in the Irani Cup against Rest of India.

It has been a trying week for Sarfaraz. The 26-year-old was part of the India squad for the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh that ended on Tuesday, but KL Rahul made it to the playing eleven. Then his younger brother Musheer Khan suffered neck injuries in a car accident while travelling with their father to Lucknow to play in the Irani Cup.

Sarfaraz had come in on Tuesday with the Ranji Trophy champions struggling at 139/4, and he was still in command at stumps on the second day of the match. Known for his penchant to pile up big scores in the domestic circuit, Sarfaraz was unbeaten on 221, taking Mumbai to 536/9 at stumps after skipper Ajinkya Rahane was unlucky to miss out on triple figures, dismissed on 97.

The batter has a first-class 301 not out, scored against Uttar Pradesh in 2020. He also hit an unbeaten 226 against Himachal Pradesh that year. He had also scored 275 against Saurashtra at Ahmedabad in 2022.

It was a splendid turnaround for Sarfaraz, who was carrying drinks for India players in the two-Test series against Bangladesh. He made full use of the slow Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium pitch to showcase his batting. As the first batter to score a double century for Mumbai in Irani Cup, he overtook the previous best of 195 by Ramnath Parkar in Pune in October 1972. Players with Mumbai cricket roots, Wasim Jaffer (Vidarbha), Ravi Shastri, Praveen Amre and Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rest of India) have Irani Cup doubles.

Sarfaraz, unbeaten on 54 overnight, was at his best on Wednesday after being dropped on 95. He scored his 15th first-class century before racing to his double century, tapping a single to point off Prasidh Krishna before letting out a celebratory roar and posing, kneeling with arms spread.

“He (Sarfaraz) has scored two hundreds today. One for himself and the other for his brother (Musheer). Hopefully, he will continue in the same vein for us tomorrow,” said Tanush Kotian, who shared a 183-run seventh wicket partnership with Sarfaraz, after the day’s play. “It does play on your mind when someone so close to you goes through such an accident. Once he was assured that his father and brother are fine, he was focused on his batting and he gave us yet another masterclass.”

Sarfaraz, who scored his first double hundred of 2024, was batting (221* - 276b, 25x4, 4x6) with debutant Mohammad Juned Khan (0*) as Mumbai ended the day at 536/9 in 138 overs. Sarfaraz took off his helmet and ran towards the dress room as all Mumbai players gave him a standing ovation.

The batter, who has played three Tests so far, scoring 200 runs from five innings with a highest of 68 not out, has scored four first-class double centuries. Though Rest of India bowlers kept testing his patience with Mukesh Kumar bowling a series of bouncers before the tea break, the batter showed his temperament.

He stitched a 131-run stand with Rahane, who fell for a 234-ball 97 after rescuing his side on the first day. He was unlucky to miss out after gloving a catch to ‘Keeper Dhruv Jurel while trying to avoid Yash Dayal’s bouncer.

Sarfaraz then added 183 runs with Kotian before reaching the landmark with Shardul Thakur at the other end. Kotian’s 124-ball 64 (4x4) and Shardul Thakur’s 59 ball 36, (4x4, 1x6) helped Mumbai take control of the match with three days left.

Brief scores: Mumbai 536/9 (A Rahane 97, Shreyas 57, Sarfaraz 221*, T Kotian 64, Mukesh Kumar 4/109) vs Rest of India.