How Sarfaraz mastered spin: 500 balls per day in nets and a 1600km car journey

Sarfaraz Khans masterful strokes in his debut match against England were no fluke but the representation of all the hard work he put in for over 15 years He played 500 deliveries every day under the watchful eyes of father Naushad KhanWith stupendous halfcenturies in both innings Sarfaraz made it very clear that he is here to stay in the Indian team The 26yearold finally debuted for India after delivering consistent performances in domestic cricketThe hard work and systematic planning of the past few years especially during the two COVID19 lockdowns paid off against the likes of Tom Hartley Joe Root and Rehan Ahmed in RajkotAlso Read Womenrsquos Indian Premier League 2024 Complete schedule live streaming details teams and moreIt has taken playing 500 deliveries per day from off leg and leftarm spinners across Oval Cross and Azad Maidans in Mumbai said a coach who has seen the Mumbaikars growth from close quartersduring COVID lockdown he undertook a car journey covering 1600km From Mumbai to Amroha Moradabad Meerut Kanpur Mathura and Dehradun he travelled and played on proverbial akhadas where the ball turns square with one shooting up and few staying down he addedThe Sarfaraz that was manoeuvering the spinners with ease honed his skills the tough wayThe credit for the final product lies not just with Naushad though Coaches of Bhuvneshwar Kumar Sanjay Rastogi Mohammed Shami Badruddin Sheikh Kuldeep Yadav Kapil Deo Pandey Gautam Gambhir Sanjay Bhardwaj and father of India A captain Abhimanyu Easwaran RP Easwaran have also contributed in their little way to make Sarfaraz a finished productAlso Read IN PHOTOS Records Yashasvi Jaiswal achieved against England in third testThey all arranged for Sarfarazs net sessions against spinners especially during the COVID lockdownDuring lockdown Naushad called me as we are both from Azamgarh and we played club cricket in Mumbai when I was employed with the Indian Navy So when he wanted his son to get practice I felt its my duty Kapil Pandey told PTIDuring lockdown Sarfaraz played Kuldeep a lot at our Kanpur Academy They did lot of net sessions together I would arrange T20 matches as that season Mushtaq Ali T20 was main tournamentHaving grown up playing on Mumbais red soil Sarfaraz has the perfect game against spin and uses his feet well he addedShamis coach Badruddin also spoke about his part in helping Sarfaraz attain mastery of spin Yes I arranged for his training and nets in Moradabad No doubt both the father and son worked hard I arranged for his stay in a hostel and got him to play a number of gamesAnother coach who has seen Naushad train his sons Sarfaraz and India U19 star Musheer spoke about the gruelling training regimen that the two players endured even on nonmatch daysFrom a young age he has been playing hundreds of balls So when Mumbai didnt have a match Naushad prepared an astro turf wicket at home where Sarfaraz practised against pacers But the moment he has to play spin they go to the Maidans and do open field training he saidEven for redball training Naushad would give Sarfaraz simulation training Suppose Mumbai play Tamil Nadu in Chennai the bowlers would be asked to create roughs with spikes and then he would be asked to play on a track that resembles a day four pitch with wide cracks he explainedThe combined effort seems to have got the desired results as was evident from the commanding manner in which Sarfaraz tackled the visiting spinners in RajkotWith PTI Inputs