I was just in my zone once I was batting: Suved Parkar on Ranji 252

Suved Parkar, someone who has recently emerged as a fine hitter in red-ball cricket, has been making rounds in the headlines for his gigantic 252 in the Ranji quarter-finals. Announced as a replacement for Ajinkya Rahane, Parkar made his First Class debut for the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) in Ranji Trophy ‘22.

In an exclusive interview with OneCricket, the young gun talked about his Ranji journey, future aspirations and his equation with Sarfaraz Khan. 

When asked about his debut, feeling the pressure coming in as a replacement for Ajinkya Rahane and getting a debut cap from former India Women’s coach WV Raman he replied, 

“To be honest, there wasn’t that pressure, because I had done extremely well in the tournaments in Mumbai and the U-25 matches as well. I was pretty on the calm side, because I knew I had been doing well and I just had to implement that."

“It was a great feeling (getting the debut cap from WV Raman), he had coached me in U-16, he didn’t remember me quickly but I later found out that he told the media guys that he had coached me in U-16” “I didn’t get a chance to talk with him, but next time I surely will," Parkar said.

During the interview, Parkar talked us through his 252 in the quarter-finals.

“I was just in my zone once I was batting, the only thing I told myself is that ‘I don’t want to give my wicket away, I want the bowlers to take my wicket’, that is what kept me going and that was my motivation."

When asked about his partnership with Sarfaraz Khan and what his takeaways were from the non-striker’s end, he answered, “What we talked about is how important it is to rotate the strike, because in Bangalore the conditions are favourable for the pace bowlers. He was telling me about how and which spinners to attack to keep the strike rotating, because of that I also scored runs at a quick pace."

“He (Sarfaraz Khan) is someone who loves cricket a lot, so we were finding ways to challenge each other. We were just having fun in between, he is someone who makes things easy, he gives me the friendly vibes," Parkar added.

After the sensational season the batter has had, he will soon join players at the Zonal Cricket Academy camp. He has been picked up as an emerging player and will look to continue his streak of runs in the domestic circuit.

Stay tuned for the interview. Keep an eye on the OneCricket YouTube channel for the full interview.