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India’s middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan who proved his mettle with a record-breaking double century in Irani Cup after getting released from Test squad is set to miss the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 opener.
As per a report by PTI, the Mumbai batter will be at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He will not be a part of Mumbai's away fixture against Baroda starting October 11. Sarfaraz is likely to retain his place in India's Test squad for three-Test series against New Zealand kicking off on October 16. The Test squad will be announced in the coming few days.
He is unlikely to get picked over KL Rahul for the first Test at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. In his case, he may get released from the squad to play Mumbai's second game of the season starting October 18 against Maharashtra at home.
Earlier, Sarfaraz was the only batter from the Test squad to play Duleep Trophy while the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai was going on. He joined the team in Kanpur for the second Test but was released alongside Yash Dayal, Dhruv Jurel. He travelled to Lucknow and helped Mumbai win the Irani Cup after 27 years.
Sarfaraz dedicates award to Musheer
Sarfaraz dedicated the ‘Player of the match’ award to his younger brother Musheer who was in Mumbai’s squad for Irani Cup but got injured in an unfortunate road accident.
“I try to follow the process and whatever I have been doing with my Abbu. If you travel all around India, you are used to how the wickets play. One has to work all-around at their game, look at how the seniors are doing and also I need to work on my weaknesses. This trophy is the team's but I promised at home that I will make a hundred for Musheer who suffered an accident and this is for him,” Sarfaraz said in the post-match presentation.
Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy 2024-25 squad as per report –
Ajinkya Rahane (c), Prithvi Shaw, Ayush Mhatre, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhessh Lad, Suryansh Shedge, Hardik Tamore (WK), Sidhaant Addhatrao (WK), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Himanshu Singh, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Avasthi, Mohd. Juned Khan, Royston Dias.
