Sarfaraz Khan's wait for a longer spell with Team India in Tests continues

Sarfaraz Khan continued to showcase his brilliance in Test cricket when he reached a splendid double hundred while playing for Mumbai against the Rest of India in the Irani Cup on Wednesday, October 2.

The 26-year-old is piling up runs whenever he takes the pitch in whites and already has 15 first-class hundreds along with 14 fifties since he made his debut back in 2014.

His performances couldn't be ignored for long, as the Team India selectors finally gave him his deserving maiden India call-up earlier this year when England toured India. Two half-centuries in Rajkot followed by another one in the Dharamsala Test showed that he had the potential to score on the big stage as well.

 

Sarfaraz Khan overall batting stats
Format	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s
Tests	3	5	1	200	68*	50	252	79.36	0	3	24	5
FC	50	74	11	4183	301*	66.39	5928	70.56	14	14	476	79
List A	37	27	9	629	117	34.94	668	94.16	2	0	67	13
T20s	96	74	21	1188	67	22.41	926	128.29	0	3	116	33

Sarfaraz waiting for longer spell with Team India

However, being overlooked for the recently concluded Bangladesh series may have had him thinking about his place in the side.

A longer spell with the Indian side would probably do him and Gautam Gambhir's side a whole lot of good, considering the kind of numbers Sarfaraz has been bringing to the table recently.

Speaking of numbers, Sarfaraz Khan now has the 4th highest first-class average among players who have scored at least 2000 runs. Sharing a name in a list that includes legendary batter Don Bradman at the top is, in itself, a compliment to the youngster.

Highest First Class averages (Players with minimum 2000 runs)
Player	M	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avge	100	50
Don Bradman	234	338	43	28067	452*	95.14	117	69
Vijay Merchant	150	234	46	13470	359*	71.64	45	52
Yashasvi Jaiswal	27	48	4	3101	265	70.47	12	9
Sarfaraz Khan	51	75	12	4405	301*	69.2	15	14
George Headley	103	164	22	9921	344*	69.86	33	44
Ajay Sharma	129	166	16	10120	259*	67.46	38	36
Kamindu Menids	51	79	7	4740	200*	65.83	18	23
Will Ponsford	162	235	23	13819	437	65.18	47	43
Bill Woodfull	174	245	39	13388	284	64.99	49	58
Shantanu Sugwekar	85	122	18	6563	299*	63.1	19	26

Sarfaraz and Dhruv Jurel were included in the squad for the Bangladesh series but were told that they have to wait for their opportunities as of now.

They were later released from the squad to enable them to participate in the Irani Cup and get some valuable game-time instead.

It will be interesting to see whether the Mumbai batter gets to wear the Indian cap once again in what is a busy Test schedule for Rohit Sharma and his men this year.