26-year-old Sarfaraz Khan may not even join the Indian team for the second Test against Bangladesh at Green Park, Kanpur starting September 27. While Ajinkya Rahane will lead Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai in the Irani Cup fixture against Rest of India in Lucknow, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is likely to put in a request to let Sarfaraz play Irani Cup if he is not part of the playing XI in Kanpur.
"Look, Sarfaraz is the only specialist middle-order batter in the squad. Dhruv Jurel is a keeper-batsman and Axar Patel is an all-rounder. What if there is a need for a concussion substitute? But yes, the Irani Cup starts on October 1 and travelling from Kanpur to Lucknow even on September 30 won't be a big deal if the Test match ends early," a BCCI source told PTI.
Irani Trophy match will commence on October 1 in Kanpur, not far away from the second Test venue.
Sarfaraz’s numbers in Duleep Trophy 2024
Earlier, despite being named in the 16-member squad, Sarfaraz did not join the team in Chennai. He was the only player from the squad to play in the second round of recently concluded Duleep Trophy 2024.
For India B, he registered scores of 9, 46 and 16 respectively. He got to bat just once against India C. In the first game against eventual champions India A, his quickfire 46 stood out.
Sarfaraz’s Test numbers
The Mumbai batter made his Test debut earlier this year against England in the absence of a few senior players who got injured. He scored twin fifties on Test debut. From three Tests against England, he scored 200 runs from five innings.
Other big names expected to feature in Irani Trophy
Apart from Sarfaraz, Shreyas Iyer, Musheer Khan, Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian are expected to feature in the Mumbai team. Also, Shardul Thakur who returned to competitive cricket with a game in Karnataka is likely to return to action post foot surgery.
India’s squad for 2nd Test vs Bangladesh
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal
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