MUMBAI: The Khan brothers of Mumbai continue to enjoy the most special January of their lives. Merely 24 hours after his elder brother
Sarfaraz Khan
received his long-awaited maiden India call-up for the second Test against England at Visakhapatnam,
Musheer Khan
added icing on the cake for his family.
Carrying on his blazing form in the ongoing
U-19 World Cup
in South Africa, Musheer scored his second century in the tournament — a sizzling 131 off 126 balls, which included 13 fours and three sixes, besides taking two for 10 in 3.1 overs with his left-arm spin to shape his team’s 214-run demolition of New Zealand in Bloemfontein on Tuesday. The India U-19s, thus, launched their Super Six campaign in grand style.
Musheer is only the second Indian batsman after Shikhar Dhawan to score more than one century in the history of the U-19 World Cup. Dhawan has brought notice of his talent with three centuries in the 2004 edition. The 18-year-old became the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 325 [email protected] at a strike rate of 103.17.
After New Zealand captain Oscar Jackson won the toss and opted to bowl first, Musheer’s knock took the defending champions to 295 for eight in 50 overs. Left-arm spinner Saumy Pandey then took 4-19 in 10 overs as India rolled over the listless Black Caps for 81 in just 28.1 overs. India were undefeated in the group stage and finished first in the Group A points standings after beating Ireland, the United States and Bangladesh.
Batting at the pivotal No. 3 position, Musheer added 77 in 77 balls for the second wicket with Adarsh Singh (52; 58b, 6x4) and 87 for the third wicket with skipper Uday Saharan (34; 57b, 2x4).
“Knowing that they don’t belong to an affluent background, we’ve provided both Sarfaraz and Musheer with every possible support for many years, including our grounds at the John Bright CC at Azad Maidan and now Karnataka SA in Cross Maidan for them to practice. This is why they’ve only played for Payyade CC all their life,” said ex-MCA secretary PV Shetty, who owns Payyade CC.
Praising Musheer, former Mumbai captain Milind Rege, who is currently the cricket advisor of the Mumbai Cricket Association, told TOI, “It’s amazing how many hundreds the Khan brothers have scored in their lives so far. I’ve forgotten to keep a track of them now! We’re delighted that Sarfarz has been called up to the Indian Test team, but Musheer is also one to watch out for in the future. The best thing about him is his temperament.”
“The future is in his hands. Let’s see how hard he works. But, he definitely has that ‘X’ factor about him,” Rege added.
“Musheer is a tremendous prospect. He played for Mumbai in the Buchi Babu Trophy (the preparatory tournament before the season). We are awaiting U-19 World Cup results to consider him for Mumbai,” said Mumbai chief selector Raju Kulkarni.
Having seen Musheer from close quarters as the head coach of Mumbai’s U-19 team, and previously at the U-16 side, Dinesh Lad has been left wowed by the youngster’s talent and commitment to the game. “I’ve seen him since his childhood days. I had told his father (Naushad Khan) that he will go very far, as long as he stays focused on his batting. He was always a highly talented and hardworking boy.
“I’ll give you an example of his commitment to cricket. Earlier this season, we had gone to Shegaon for a camp. He scored a century in a practice match there, and we were travelling back next day to Mumbai by a night train. Next morning, he went for practice at Cross Maidan,” Lad recalled.
Brief scores:
India U-19 295/8 in 50 overs (Adarsh Singh 52, Musheer Khan 131, Uday Saharan 35; Mason Clarke 4/64) beat NZ U-19 81 in 28.1 overs (Oscar Jackson 19; Raj Limbani 2/17, Saumy Pandey 4/19) by 214 runs.
English (US) ·