Touted as the next Tendulkar, is Sarfaraz Khan finally living up to the potential

Sarfaraz Khan, the free-flowing Mumbai Batsman, has been hitting the news headlines for the right reasons. The Mumbai maestro ended his Ranji Trophy tournament with 982 runs in just six matches.

The 24-year-old scored four centuries and two half-centuries and joined the list of elite batters to have scored maximum runs in a single edition of the Ranji Trophy. Sarfaraz Khan was awarded the player of the series trophy after his 982-run season with Mumbai, the highest runs anyone has scored this year.

We can say that the young gun is finally reaping the rewards for all the efforts that he has put in throughout the years. Touted as the next Sachin Tendulkar, Sarfaraz Khan became a household name in Age-Group and School Cricket. However, the headlines only talked about Sarfaraz Khan scoring an awful amount of runs and dismantling the opposite teams with his bat. 

Not many people know about this, but Sarfaraz Khan represented Rizvi Springfield School in Mumbai and was a senior to Arman Jaffer and Prithvi Shaw, having overlapped a few cricketing seasons and tournaments with each other. 

Destiny has it; all the three batters represented Mumbai in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy under the able captaincy of Prithvi Shaw and helped the team reach the finals.

Sarfaraz Khan's cricketing journey started at the tender age of 4 when he picked up a bat for the first time. Under the watchful eyes of his father, Naushad Khan, who is also an acclaimed coach, Sarfaraz was groomed technically in all aspects of batting. 

This legacy and hard work over his teenage years earned him a call-up to India's Under 19 Team in the ICC Under - 19 World Cup. Sarfaraz Khan appeared in two Under -19 World Cups for India in 2014 and 2016, respectively and displayed exceptional performances with his bat.

In First Class Cricket, his journey began in 2014 against Bengal with a handful of impressive glimpses in the absence of mainstay players due to national call-ups. Although post-2014, a series of downwards trends began. Khan was accused of making obscene gestures toward selectors, resulting in a suspension for the youngster in 2015. 

After an apparent spat with the Mumbai Cricket Association think-tank & Management, Sarfaraz Khan did not represent Mumbai in Domestic Cricket and opted to play for Uttar Pradesh. 

Sarfaraz represented UP for four years but struggled with his inconsistent form, reckless shot selection, and fitness. He is notoriously famous for having the highest BMI among First Class Cricketers. 

The youngster also came under an age-fudging scandal during his early teenage years. The tests confirmed that Sarfaraz was accused of playing as an over-age player. However, Sarfaraz and his father with MCA ran advanced tests that matched his birth certificate's age. 

Sarfaraz Khan also carries a mixed bag of reviews in the IPL. However, in 2015, when the Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him, he started impressively. With decent scores under his belt for a high-profile team against challenging opponents, Sarfaraz's career graph looked bright as ever. 

As a result, RCB decided to retain him in the future IPL editions. But the decision did not work well for the franchise as Sarfaraz's performance dipped. Sarfaraz has represented Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings & Delhi Capitals but has failed to click for any of the franchises over the long term.

By 2019, Sarfaraz's career graph had stalled and plateaued. He was under the scanner with a not-so-decent attitude and behaviour, mediocre performances, inconsistency, and fitness woes. Sarfaraz was staring at an abyss. 

In 2019, Sarfaraz decided to return to Mumbai and represent his home team again. This decision was encouraged by the association after the selectors and think-tank had the belief in him to revive his career. Sarfaraz toiled for hours, day in and day out, to earn his spot in the team and slowly became the mainstay in the Mumbai batting line-up.

Although the Covid-19 Pandemic halted his career due to suspension and delays of numerous domestic tournaments, Sarfaraz kept his focus and performed well in whatever chances he got during the span. 

Sarfaraz Khan is now undoubtedly the new crisis man of the Mumbai Cricket Team, snatching the title away from fellow batsman Siddhesh Lad, who is struggling to make it into the team. Sarfaraz showed up when his team was down and proved his mettle on multiple occasions to quash any claims of his performance being a fluke.

Mumbai lost to Madhya Pradesh in the Finals of Ranji Trophy 2021-2022, but Sarfaraz Khan scored the highest number of runs and was the Man of The Tournament. In the post-match ceremony, he credited his father for his success, as he was his inspiration and staunch support in all the good & bad times the player went through.

One can only hope that Sarfaraz Khan continues his form in the upcoming tournaments and finds a spot in the middle order of the Indian Cricket Team. 

Sarfaraz Khan has a serious opportunity ahead of himself, as the middle order in Test Cricket is unstable and inconsistent. Sarfaraz, who can bat at number 5, can genuinely challenge for the spot. Indian think-tank has moved on from Ajinkya Rahane, while Shreyas Iyer & Hanuma Vihari have been below par with the bat.

It is widely accepted that First Class Cricket is the way to cement a spot in the Test Team of Indian Cricket, whereas IPL is the path to reach the Limited Overs Squads.

Due to Sarfaraz's heroic performances in Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this year, it is speculated that Sarfaraz Khan could now make it to the Test squad for the Bangladesh Series at the end of the year.