NEW DELHI:
Sarfaraz Khan
revealed on Friday that his father, Naushad, encouraged him to approach domestic matches with the same fervour as if he were representing the country, despite facing delays in his selection to the Indian team despite consistent performances in the national circuit.
Sarfaraz finally made his debut for India during the recently-concluded five-match Test series against England, where he showcased his talent by scoring three half-centuries.
Despite an impressive First-Class record of 3,912 runs at an average of 69.85, including 14 centuries, the Mumbai cricketer struggled to break into the Indian team. Even the legendary
Sunil Gavaskar
supported his Test selection last year after witnessing his prolific run-scoring in
domestic cricket
.
"I would ask my father when would I get a chance to play for India and if there were people supporting us. He would tell me just one thing, 'think as if you're playing for India in your next domestic match and score runs there as well'.
"So I only had one job, that was to score runs whereever I'm playing," Sarfaraz said during the India Today conclave.
Former India captain Anil Kumble presented Sarfaraz with the Test cap before the third Test in Rajkot, where he notched up two half-centuries, replicating Gavaskar's feat.
"From my childhood, I have been hearing stories about the importance of Test cricket. My father kept telling me the importance of the longest format of the game. It's not like there was no pressure, I felt pressure when I was playing my maiden series," Sarfaraz said.
Sarfaraz thanked Gavaskar for taking up his cause. Gavaskar, reacting to the cricketer not getting a Test berth in January last year, had said the selectors should not choose players based on their shape or physique, but rather on their form with the bat or ball.
"I want to say thank you to Gavaskar sir, who has helped and supported me."
Sarfaraz said playing for India had seen his social media following rise exponentially.
"My Instagram followers have grown to 1.5 million after my Test debut. For the last four years, it was 600-700k followers on Instagram. Suddenly, after playing for India, it has become 1.5 million. It's good," Sarfaraz said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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