'Dad told me to play domestic cricket as if I was playing for India': Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz Khan (Pic: AFP)

Sarfaraz Khan said on Friday that his father, Naushad, urged him to play domestic matches as if he was playing for the country even when his selection to the Indian team was getting delayed despite scoring tall runs in the national circuit.

Sarfaraz finally got the opportunity to play for India during the recently-concluded five-match IND vs ENG Test series where he showcased his prowess by scoring three half-centuries.

Despite an amazing First-Class record of scoring 3,912 runs at an average of 69.85 with 14 centuries, the Mumbai cricketer wasn't getting a break in the India team. Even the legendary Sunil Gavaskar backed his Test selection last year after seeing him score copious amount of runs 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.

Sarfaraz was handed the Test cap by former India captain Anil Kumble before the Rajkot Test in the IND vs ENG Test series, where he scored two half-tons to emulate Gavaskar.

"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.

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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 agency inputs)