Sarfaraz Khan slams maiden T20 ton from just 47 balls batting at no.3 for Suryakumar Yadav's Mumbai, sends message to IPL franchises

SMAT 2025: India’s discarded batter Sarfaraz Khan scored his maiden T20 century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 clash between Mumbai and Assam. Sarfaraz was sent in to bat at no.3 by captain Suryakumar Yadav and he repaid his faith with an unbeaten 47-ball century to help Mumbai post 220/4 on the board.

Sarfaraz accelerates in slog overs to reach 100

Sarfaraz walked in to bat in the fourth over after Avinav Choudhary dismissed 18-year-old Ayush Mhatre for a 15-ball 21. Sarfaraz shared a 51-run partnership for the second wicket with Ajinkya Rahane. The veteran opener scored 42 runs from 33 balls.

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Skipper Suryakumar contributed with a 12-ball 20 cameo. He lost his wicket in the 15th over. In the next over, Sarfaraz reached his fifty from 31 deliveries. Sarfaraz accelerated in the slog overs and succeeded in doing so. Suryansh Shedge could not make a mark and departed for a single-digit score in the 18th over.

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After 19 overs, Mumbai were 200/4. Sarfaraz reached his maiden T20 ton from 47 balls. On the other end, Sairaj Patil contributed with an unbeaten nine-ball 25 cameo. Sarfaraz hit eight fours and seven sixes in his splendid knock. This was his first match of the SMAT 2025 season.

Sarfaraz’s T20 statistics before maiden ton

Earlier, Sarfaraz had three half-centuries from 96 T20 games to his name. From 74 innings, he had scored 1,118 runs at an average of 22.41 and strike rate of 128.29.

No IPL contracts in last 2 seasons

Sarfaraz has send a timely reminder to the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises as well ahead of the mini-auction. The 28-year-old has not played in the last two Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons.

In IPL 2022 and 2023, he got limited chances at Delhi Capitals (DC). He did not do himself a favour by making the most of the opportunities. It was a similar case at the Punjab Kings (PBKS). He got more chances at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). His one and only IPL fifty came in the 2019 season for PBKS. It will be interesting to see if Sarfaraz finds a place in one of the franchises in the mini-auction which is set to take place on December 15.