How Sarfaraz Khan with his cheeky strokeplay is beginning to impress

By Disha Shetty

It’s not easy to impress Virat Kohli. And it isn’t easy to outshine AB de Villiers. Sarfaraz Khan did both on Wednesday night in Bangalore, first sending the capacity crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium into raptures and then getting the captain, Kohli, to walk up and fold his hands in a light-hearted salute.

At 17, Sarfaraz is the youngest to play in the IPL. Against Rajasthan Royals, he walked in when de Villiers was run out off the penultimate ball of the 14th over after scoring a 45-ball 57. Sarfaraz’s charge began with an upper-cut four off James Faulkner in the 16th over.

Then a back of the bat reverse sweep – where the risk seemed to outweigh the reward – with a close infield fetched just one. Sarfaraz wasn’t too thrilled; he smacked Faulkner’s next to the third-man boundary. In the next over, two fours came off Shane Watson, the Rajasthan captain, both in the direction of third man – an outside edge and a cheeky ramp shot – leaving the experienced Australian looking a bit out of ideas.

Despite losing Dinesh Karthik to a run out, Sarfaraz extended his reign on the night. It was Pravin Tambe’s turn to be the target of his Mumbai colleague’s cheekiness next.

The first four was a sweep over fine-leg. The next one had him storming out and launching the 43-year-old leg-spinner over the long-off fence. Then came an inside-out drive that went past the long-off boundary in an over that fetched 18 runs.

Sarfaraz, by then, had caught the attention of both the dugouts. He had also captured the imagination of the crowd, which chanted ‘Sarfar-raaz, Sar-far-raaz’. Even the Twitter world went gaga over the new star on the block – Sensational Sarfaraz, they called him. From VVS Laxman to Michael Vaughan to Tom Moody, everyone raved about the short and slightly plump right-hander’s fearless approach. David Lloyd even urged English county teams to rope him in as soon as possible. "I’ve always advised him to play tough, fearless cricket," Naushad Khan, Sarfaraz’s father and coach, told Wisden India.

"He wasn’t nervous that he would be facing some of the best international bowlers in the IPL. He has always batted that way." Branded the next big thing from the Bombay School of Batsmanship, comparisons weren’t restricted to jus t Sachin Tendulkar, some even saw a bit of Javed Miandad and Aravinda de Silva in him.

The IPL is a perfect potpourri of hunger, passion and, possibly, stardom, and Sarfaraz certainly went from anonymity to prominence with his unbeaten 21-ball 45. It must have helped that B Arun, Sarfaraz’s Under-19 coach and Bangalore’s assistant coach, has never been short of valuable advice. "Bharat sir was a lower-order batsman himself, he was aware of Sarfaraz’s talent and got him to bat at No. 6," pointed out Naushad.

"It is one of main reasons for Sarfaraz’s aggressive style of batting, he knows his role well as a finisher." Maybe there was a reason the rain decided to interrupt the proceedings soon after Bangalore had amassed 200 for 7 against Rajasthan.

Maybe Sarfaraz deserved to keep the spotlight on him, without the Rajasthan batsmen taking away a share. He certainly got it.

(Wisden India)