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The calls to include Sarfaraz Khan have become louder of late. However, the new selection committee decided to give Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav a go for the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy instead of Sarfaraz who has been piling runs in domestic cricket like it is child's play. The last time an uncapped Indian batter had made similar headlines was Mayank Agarwal. Eventually Agarwal got his Test cap but for now Sarfaraz has to focus on piling more runs in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022-23 season. In a recent interview, Mumbai’s maverick middle-order batter has vowed to keep his head up instead of getting bogged down.
“Everywhere I go, I hear murmurs that he will play for India soon. On social media, I have thousands of messages talking about my exclusion. Sab bolte hain tera time aayega (everyone says your time will come). I came from Assam to Delhi the day after the selection, and wasn’t able to sleep the whole night. I kept asking why am I not there? But now after speaking to my father, I’m back to normal. I will never give up practice, I will not go under depression. Don’t worry, I will keep trying,” the 25-year-old was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
Sarfaraz has had a phenomenal First-Class record in the past few years. He is even called 'India ka Bradman' for his stupendous average in red-ball cricket. He has scored 3,380 runs from 52 innings at an average of 80.47 including 12 centuries and nine half-centuries.
Sarfaraz did not give a diplomatic answer when asked about not finding a place in the 17-member Test squad. He admitted that he did get hurt as he said, “I was down completely. It’s natural for anyone, especially once you have scored so many runs. I’m also human, not a machine. I too have emotions. I spoke to my father and he came to Delhi. I just had a practice session in Delhi with him. I have been getting messages and hearing that I should have been there. My father came and said our job is to score runs and he feels a day will come when I will play for India. So we need to keep that belief and let destiny decide the rest.”
Sarfaraz also talked about the hard work he put in to continue his consistent run in the format. He revealed he also had a chat with chief selector Chetan Sharma few weeks ago and was told that he would be selected in near future. However, when he did not see his name in Board of Control for Cricket's (BCCI) tweet announcing the Test side it left him shattered.
“I was sad not to see the name. But it is not in my hands. I have been doing everything I can. Din ko din aur raat ko raat nahi samjha (I have been working day and night). I’m just practising day in and day out. When I was growing up, we at home felt was I going to find a place in the Mumbai Ranji team. Now, we are talking about when I will find a place in the Indian team. So I have progressed,” said the Mumbai batter who recently scored a match-winning 162 against Tamil Nadu.
