Sarfaraz Khan: The Uncapped Ranji Trophy Centurion!

Sarfaraz Khan is an Indian cricketer who played for the country in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2014 and 2016.

A right-handed batsman and a leg-break bowler, Sarafaraz represents Mumbai in the Ranji trophy and Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. He also holds the record for being the first cricketer to score more than 900 runs in two consecutive Ranji seasons.

Physical Stats

Sarfaraz Khan Family

Sarfaraz Khan was born on 22 October 1997 to Naushad Khan, a cricket coach, and Tabassum. The cricketer also has two brothers, Musheer Khan, and Moin Khan. Of these Musheer Khan ia cricketer and has played Ranji trophy for Mumbai.

Education

Sarfaraz did his schooling at Rizvi Springfield High School in Mumbai.

Controversies

In June 2023, former Indian international cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed Indian selectors for not picking Sarfaraz for the national team for the two-match Test series against the West Indies.

According to Gavaskar, the Mumbai cricketer has been scoring at an average of 100 in all past three seasons and asked what else he has to do to find a place in the team. The cricketing legend also added that the selectors should communicate with Sarfaraz regarding his future in test cricket.

However, a BCCI official later told PTI that Sarfaraz was not considered for the national team as his fitness levels does not meet international standards. He also added that the cricketer’s poor off-field conduct was another reason that worked against him.

In 2011, a school team raised an allegation that Sarfaraz is overaged. According to bone tests, his age was showing as 15. However, according to the birth date registered with Mumbai Cricket Association, the cricketer’s age was only 13.

Following the controversy, the teenager underwent a second advanced test and the resulting age matched the registered birth date. During that time, Sarfaraz opened up in an interview about the discrimination he had to face. The youngster said that his friends consider him a cheat and that he is scared of going to Azad Maidan for his jogging sessions. 

Sarfaraz Khan Profession

From an early age, Sarfaraz Khan started getting trained in cricket under his father. Naushad even made a synthetic pitch at home for his son to practice. Later, during his days at Rizvi Springfield, the 12-year-old Sarfaraaz scored 439 runs in an interschool match, thus breaking cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing Harris Shield record. Soon, the teenager was picked for the Mumbai Under-19 team. 

A stellar performance for the state paved the way for Sarfaraaz’s entry to the Indian Under-19 team for the  2014 Under-19 World Cup. In the tournament, he went on to score a mammoth 211 runs in 6 matches with an impressive average of 70.33. 

Subsequently, Sarfaraz was bought by IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping 5 million for the 2015 season. Thus, at the age of 17, he became the youngest cricketer to have ever participated in an IPL match. Of the total 13 matches he played in the 2015 IPL, Sarfaraz managed to score 111 runs with a strike rate of 156.33.

It was followed by the cricketer being selected for the 2016 Under 19 World Cup in Bangladesh. With an amazing performance of 355 runs from six innings, Sarfaraz emerged to be the second-highest run-scorer for India in the tournament. By scoring 7 fifties in two World Cups, the youngster also holds the record for scoring the most number of fifties in World Cups in the Under 19 category.

In 2014, Sarfaraz made his debut in the Ranji trophy by playing for Mumbai against Bengal. He has also played for the state of Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji trophy. In the 2019–20 Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz scored his first triple-century in first-class cricket.

In IPL, Sarfaraz played for Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2015 to 2018. Later Punjab Kings bought the cricketer and he played for the franchise from 2019 to 2021. At the auction held for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament, Sarfaraz was bought by Delhi Capitals. 

At times, Sarafaraz has also appeared in the role of an occasional wicket-keeper. It was in the 2022 season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that the youngster made his first appearance as an occasional wicketkeeper in senior cricket.

Sarfaraz Khan Net worth

Reportedly, Sarfaraz Khan’s net worth as of 2023 stands at $ 1 million.

Lesser Known Facts About Sarfaraz Khan

• During the practice sessions at the nets, Sarfaraz’s father used to give 50 rupees to the bowlers who dismissed his son. He did this trick to make sure that all the bowlers gave Sarfaraz a tough time. 

• Sarfaraz once recollected in an interview that long back his father had a knee problem. Though the doctors recommended surgery, Naushad didn’t opt for that as he was concerned that if something goes wrong with the surgery, he would be wheelchair bound and nobody would be left to train his sons.  

• The cricketer’s family owns an 1800-square-foot house in Chattarpur Dalel village in Azamgarh. There are all modern cricketing facilities built inside the house ranging from a flood-lit indoor turf,  a mini swimming pool, guest rooms, family rooms, a gym, and also an artificial turf on the terrace so that cricket can be played uninterruptedly.

• During the games at the junior level, Sarfaraz used to meet and play with Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun Tendulkar. Once Sarfaraz told his dad how lucky Arjun was as he had everything in life such as a car, iPad, etc. However, soon he hugged his father and added that in fact, he was luckier than Arjun as his dad spends the entire day with him and Sachin is not able to spend enough time with Arjun.

• Sarfaraz’s favorite cartoon character is Tom and Jerry and he likes all the songs from the Bollywood movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’.

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