After piling on runs in domestic cricket, Sarfaraz Khan made his Test debut in the recently concluded series against England. Sarfaraz was the only player in India’s Test squad who was without an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract. The 26-year-old was not picked in the auction despite a base price of Rs 20 lakh.
Sarfaraz who has played 50 IPL matches is hopeful that he might get roped in by an IPL franchise if one of their players gets injured.
"In a big IPL season, there are chances of players getting injured, and you get calls. But, what's in my hand is my hard work. I want to keep working hard. I am not part of the IPL as of now, but if I get a call, I have to be ready for that. I have to continue my practice at home and also keep my red-ball practice going," he said at India Today Conclave.
If Sarfaraz gets picked up by any franchise during IPL 2024, he will get at least Rs 50 lakh. His new base price got a 250 per cent increase as he is not an uncapped player anymore.
Sarfaraz’s IPL journey
Sarfaraz made his IPL debut in 2015 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2015. He earned praise from RCB skipper Virat Kohli for his ability to play unorthodox shots. In 2018, he was even retained for Rs 4 crore ahead of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul.
After getting released by RCB, he was picked by Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) before getting picked by Delhi Capitals (DC) for his base price of Rs 20 lakh in the mega auction.
He failed to make it count at DC. In the previous season, he scored 53 runs from four games at an average of 13.25. His strike rate of 85.48 was below par.
Sarfaraz's debut Test series
He scored twin fifties in the Rajkot Test to equal legendary Sunil Gavaskar's feat. In the Ranchi Test, he registered scores of 14 and 0 in the first and second innings respectively. In the Dharamsala Test, he scored 56. His Test numbers look decent enough so far with 200 runs from three games at an average of 50. His strike rate of 79.36 stands out as well.
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