MUMBAI: In 2015, when
Sarfaraz Khan was packing his Mumbai kit, which would eventually be bundled in a corner of the Khan household in Kurla, the youngster had tears in his eyes. For, he knew he would never represent Mumbai in domestic competitions again.
Mumbai was the team he had aspired to play for as a school kid and the city was his first love. But then he had to leave. After all, it was his father and coach Naushad Khan's decision to make him play for a different state in order to get him noticed by the powers that be. Naushad, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, chose the state for Sarfaraz.
Having spent two seasons playing First Class cricket there and another one year in various other domestic tournaments for UP with little success, Sarfaraz returned to the city of his birth, and after serving the mandatory one year cooling off period, he was brought back into the Mumbai fold.
On Tuesday Sarfaraz made a brilliant comeback and scored an unbeaten 132 to help Mumbai claw their way back into the game in the company of the experienced
Siddhesh Lad, who struck a patient 98.
The duo added 210 runs for the fifth wicket and to some extent, have enabled Mumbai to still fancy their chances of surpassing a humongous Uttar Pradesh total of 625-8 declared.
Speaking after his heroic knock, Sarfaraz said that it felt like he was back where he belonged. "I am really thankful to everyone at the
Mumbai Cricket Association
for giving me this second chance. It really means a lot to me," he said.
So what was the kind of emotions he was going through once he got to the three-figure mark? "I am delighted because I got a second chance for Mumbai and I made it count," he said.
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