‘Mumbai mulga’

Sarfaraz Khan I have a massive soft spot for the lsquoMumbai mulgarsquomdashafter all we both played on the same ground as kidsmdashCross Maidan Churchgate He plays his cricket like a schoolboymdasheager earnest effervescentmdashhuge underdog will he ever get his chance we wonderedHe waited his father waited for years Plundered thousands of runs in domestic cricket he was as they said ldquoknocking down the doors for the selectors to listenrdquo Was anyone listeningldquoKnock knock whorsquos thererdquoldquoSarfarazrdquoldquoSarfaraz whordquoExactlyWould he end up being the Crown prince never the king And yet KL Rahulrsquos injury hadnrsquot healed fate had no option but to gift Safaraz Khan his India capOn Wednesday when Patidar fell we were 333 the Poms were on song spewing fire someone in the dressing room took a clever call Dravid perhaps not to send the debutant in Sarfaraz would have been badly exposed to cement a place and to save a teamhellip that would have been epic multitasking the world watching his father tense his wife tensemdashand if hersquod failed hersquod be back in Kurla practicing in his backyard doomed never to returnAnd yet he had to wait four hours padded up while Rohit and Jadeja did their rescue actmdashand then he bustled in scored the joint fastest Test fifty on debutJaddu ran him outhellip that unfortunate moment as much part of folklore as if hersquod got a centurymdashmassive public sympathy followed Insta reel after Insta reel of him hugging his dad Naushad Khan wiping his wifersquos tears his pain at being run outSo I have some advice Sarfaru bhai take it or leave itTherersquos something so ldquoMumbairdquo about your vibeA ldquohey bhai ball phenko yaarrdquo feel about your gameA cheekiness that goes with the majesty Sunny had it Sachin had itI wish you wellhellip you have grit you have gumptionhellip you have a ldquogallirdquo mentality but your girth manhellip some treadmill the boy needs Naushadbhai Some push ups maybe hersquos inherited your frame unfortunatelyVirat dropped you from the RCB team some years ago told you to get your fitness act togethermdashyou havenrsquot listenedLook Irsquom saying please keep the individuality heavensent at this time when everyones a clone with their manicured ldquodaadheesrdquo no ldquomaabehenrdquo ki gaali only galli cricket approach donrsquot satisfy the hunger yet the wolves are waiting at the door when the big daddyrsquos returnSarfaraz you are a childadult only you can decide where your future goesmdashyoursquore already 26mdashI suspect because of your fitness you wont make the T20 or ODI teams only Tests for youRohit and Rahul will support you up to a point obviouslyIndian cricket is in an odd illogical place at the momentmdashsome players are getting an awfully long rope Shubham Gill for one already a superstar inspite of his strugglesmdashyour Mumbai mate Yashashvi Jaiswal he has the blue blooded credentialsYou were asked how it felt to have waited so long to batYou responded withmdashldquoIrsquove waited so long whatrsquos another four hoursrdquoAnd on your unfortunate dismissalmdashldquoCricket mein hota hai it is part of the game kabhi run kabhi run outrdquoThe fairy tale beginning needs a long format middle and an extended end my instinct is you donrsquot have the X factor needed to survive in our cricket systemmdashsure you can bat but the glam the godfathers the endorsements the ads may not come your waymdashyou also wonrsquot be allowed the ldquononsenserdquo that Hardik has been permitted Keep your head down as last weekrsquos birthday boy GR Vishwanath did all through his career Keep those runs ticking as the clock ticksLet history remember you as the boy who stood on the burning deck not the lad who burnt his careerGo well bhai go wellRahul daCunha is an adman theatre directorplaywright photographer and traveller Reach him at rahuldacunhamiddaycom