In February 2024, Sarfaraz Khan was at an all-time high. After years of toiling hard in domestic cricket, he finally received his maiden India cap. It was Sarfaraz’s and his father, Naushad’s, dream to play Test cricket for the nation. Both shed tears of joy moments after he was named on India’s team sheet for the first time.
Sarfaraz Khan’s poor run
By the end of the year, it had all gone haywire. Despite hitting 3 fifties and 1 hundred in 6 matches, Sarfaraz was dropped the next time India played Test cricket at home. In between, he was selected for the Australia tour but didn’t play and wasn’t taken to England.
During the off-season, Sarfaraz rectified his fitness issues. He dropped 17 kilograms. It was going to be a new and better version of Sarfaraz. But injury had other plans. He missed out on the Duleep Trophy. Then the selectors didn’t pick him for India A or for the Test series against the West Indies and South Africa.
For years, Sarfaraz wasn’t seen as this physical specimen but had runs to show for it. Now that he’s aced that fitness criticism, runs have evaded him. In the 3 matches he’s played for Mumbai in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz has scored 95 runs at 23.75.
Mumbai teammates behind batting star
All’s going wrong. From being in India’s Test squad to now being unable to even score a fifty. Sarfaraz’s Mumbai teammate Siddhesh Lad realises he must be going through tough times. On the eve of the Mumbai vs Himachal match at the MCA ground in BKC, Lad stated that he and the team will do everything in their power to boost Sarfaraz’s confidence.
“At the end of the day, he is a human being, and everyone makes some mistakes. There is always that (rough) patch for big players. If we look at the last 4-5 years, he has consistently scored runs. Somewhere, it could be demotivating as a player, but at this time, it is up to us as a team and support staff as to how do we lift him up? We know his potential, and if he plays (well), he will play big innings. As a team, we will try to lift his confidence in any way we can,” Lad told reporters.
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