Out-of-favour India middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan smashed a blistering hundred for Mumbai against TNCA XI on the opening day of the Buchi Babu Trophy tournament in Chennai.
Coming in to bat at No.5, Sarfaraz reached his hundred in just 92 deliveries, and stitched a 100-run stand for the sixth wicket with Aakash Parkar.
The 27-year-old is eyeing a comeback to the Indian Test team after he was left out of the squad for the tour of England. Though he was picked in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, he didn’t play a single game in the five-match affair.
The last of Sarfaraz’s six Tests came during New Zealand’s tour of India last year. After scoring a brilliant 150 in the first Test against the Kiwis in Bengaluru, Sarfaraz just managed 21 runs in the subsequent four innings as India was blanked 0-3 at home.
In 11 Test innings so far, Sarfaraz has scored 371 runs at a middling average of 37.10. However, with Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan failing to make a statement with the willow during the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series in England, Sarfaraz has a golden opportunity to be in the scheme of things again ahead of a packed home season.
In his most recent outing in First-Class cricket, Sarfaraz had impressed with a steady 92-run knock during India A’s tour of England ahead of the five-Test series.
