No more sob stories. Sarfaraz Khan, 28, has firmly taken control of his story and is showing no signs of letting the narrative spin away from anything other than cricket and his performance. The Mumbai batter was destined for greatness ever since he made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2014; however, he had to wait 10 years to earn his maiden Test call-up. Even his Test debut didn’t come in ideal circumstances, as he was only considered after replacing the injured Shreyas Iyer in the five-match series against England.
Sarfaraz Khan has been in phenomenal form of late. (PTI)
Sarfaraz’s career is full of hits and misses. He was expected to be a shoo-in in Tests after the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but somehow remains ignored. When he made his debut in Rajkot, the narrative centred on him being on the heavier side and the need to shed some weight. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar came to his rescue repeatedly, saying that the sport of cricket doesn’t require models, as it is all about being game-fit.
Eight months later, Sarfaraz took a step further. On a pacy and bouncy pitch in Bengaluru, he smashed 150 runs off 279 balls against New Zealand in the second innings. The knock couldn’t prevent an Indian defeat, but the explosive batter from Mumbai displayed that he has the game against both pace and spin. However, failures in the next two Tests were all it took for the team management, headed by head coach Gautam Gambhir, to sideline Sarfaraz, who, like Kohli, Rohit and Shubman Gill, faltered on spinning tracks in Pune and Mumbai. Still, the axe fell only on Sarfaraz.
When the infamous dressing-room leaks emerged after India’s shellacking in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, several within the think tank believed Sarfaraz had a role to play. No one knows the accuracy of this claim, but it’s unlikely to be a coincidence that Sarfaraz was dropped from the Test squad immediately after the series against Australia and hasn’t been picked since.
Sarfaraz finds his mojo back
When India was playing against the West Indies and South Africa on home soil, Sarfaraz was in action at the Ranji Trophy, where his bat went surprisingly quiet, scoring just 188 runs from five matches. However, in the last two months of 2025, Sarfaraz has found his groove back, amassing runs for fun for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. It is no surprise that Sarfaraz’s performance in the SMAT also earned him an IPL contract, as the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) signed him on board for INR 75 lakh. Trolled viciously for his weight, Sarfaraz also worked on his fitness and shed several kilos to be in the best shape of his life. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Sarfaraz smashed 329 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 203.08 and an average of more than 65. He also smashed a century for Mumbai in the tournament. The team might not have managed to win the tournament, but Sarfaraz was the bright spot with the bat.
Carrying the same form, Sarfaraz has lit up the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 campaign and most recently, with a 15-ball half-century against Punjab. This was the fastest fifty by an Indian in the history of List-A cricket, breaking the previous record held jointly by Maharashtra’s Abhijit Kale and Baroda allrounder Atit Sheth (16 balls).
According to the official data available in record books, Sarfaraz’s 15-ball half-century is the fourth-fastest fifty in all List A cricket, with the fastest being Sri Lanka’s Kaushalya Weeraratne in 12 balls. During his 20-ball 62, Sarfaraz smashed India’s Abhishek Sharma for 30 runs in a single over. He is currently the leading run-getter for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 303 runs in six innings at an average of 75.75 and a strike rate of 190.56, with a best of 157 against Goa.
The BCCI selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, has made some impressive, as well as shocking, calls lately. Several specialists in white-ball formats have made their debuts in Tests; Sarfaraz’s case hits different. He was always believed to be the red-ball specialist, although chances have been far and few. Hence, with Sarfaraz now scoring runs by truckloads in white-ball competitions, the question remains: If Ajit Agarkar and Gambhir don’t take notice now, when will they?
Right after the IPL 2020 concluded with the Mumbai Indians’ victory, Gambhir made a sweeping statement while talking to ESPNcricinfo, saying, “If Rohit Sharma doesn’t become India captain, then it’s not his loss, rather it’s India’s.” Five years later, the same applies to Sarfaraz; if his recent form doesn’t land him in the Playing XI, it certainly isn’t his loss, more so given the rut India find themselves in Test cricket.