Duo's 184-run stand gives team upper hand against Odisha
Pulling Mumbai out of the woods has become a habit with Sarfaraz Khan this Ranji season. So has knocking on the door of the national selectors hard.
Serving yet another proof about his immense ability, the tremendously consistent young gun cracked his sixth first-class hundred (107 not out, 117b, 11x4, 1x6), sharing an unfinished fourth wicket alliance of 183 in 274 balls with his Rizvi Springfield schoolmate Armaan Jaffer, who scored a well-compiled, unbeaten 77 (162b, 8x4, 2x6), to help Mumbai finish at a commanding 259 for three in reply to Odisha's 284 on Day Two of their Ranji Trophy Group D clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium's B ground.
Looking well-placed after Sarfaraz and Armaan's magnificent knocks, Mumbai would be all the more hopeful of making it to the knockouts with a look at the proceedings nearby in the same stadium, where their closes rival Saurashtra, who scored 347, look in a spot of bother with Goa at 239 for four. Having lost skipper Prithvi Shaw (53, 64b, 6x4, 2x6) and Ajinkya Rahane for a first ball duck, the domestic heavyweights were wobbling at 76 for three after a triple strike by pacer Rajesh Mohanty, before Sarfaraz led his team's fightback.
"It felt like we were batting for our school Rizvi Springfield in the Harris or Giles Shield. During our partnership, I was remembering Raju sir (Pathak, ex-Rizvi Springfield coach) a lot. Armaan played well. I've seen Wasim bhai's (Armaan's uncle is former India opener Wasim Jaffer) videos on YouTube. Armaan's batting style reminded me of Wasim bhai," Sarfaraz Khan told TOI from Ahmedabad. Ironically, Wasim Jaffer, who is the Odisha coach this season, was watching Sarfaraz and his nephew keep his team at bay from the sidelines.
As he set out to resurrect the Mumbai innings, Sarfaraz found an able ally in Jaffer. Playing in his first Ranji Trophy game this season, Armaan scored his maiden half-century in first-class cricket, more than five years after his debut for Mumbai. For someone who's scored just 55 runs in five games@5. 50 coming into this match, the 23-year-old, batting as the new Mumbai No 3, produced the most significant knock of his career so far.
For the fourth time in three games so far this Ranji season, Sarfaraz bailed Mumbai out from a precarious situation. Enjoying supreme form, the 24-year-old has now climbed to be the second highest run-getter this season in the Ranji Trophy- 493 runs in three matches at an phenomenal average of 164. 33, including two hundreds and a fifty. In fact, this is the highest tally in the Elite Division - Bihar's Shakibul Ghani (578 runs in three games for Bihar) plays in the Plate Division.
Sarfaraz's sequence of scores in the Ranji Trophy this season so far reads: 275 vs Saurashtra, 63 & 48 vs Goa, and now 107 not out against Odisha. Going into this game, his first class average read an incredible 74. 38 after 21 games.
"It was an important knock for us because we want to score an outright win in this game to qualify for the quarterfinals. When I walked in, the score was 76 for three, and I had to face the 'hat-trick' ball. It isn't easy to bat from that situation till the end of the day's play. I'm not playing for myself, but for my team," Sarfaraz told TOI from Ahmedabad.
Brief scores: Odisha 284 (Shantanu Mishra 89; Mohit Avasthi 3-66 vs Mumbai 259-3 in 70 overs (Sarfaraz 107*, Armaan Jaffer 77*, Prithvi Shaw 53; Rajesh Mohanty 3-64)
