Explosive Indian batsman Sarfaraz Khan continued his purple patch patch with the bat as he scored his seecond century of the season in the ongoing 2022-23 season at the Brabourne stadium on Wednesday. The 25 year old came out to bat when Mumbai were struggling at 79-3 after Tamil Nadu were bundled out for 144 runs.
Mumbai lost their fourth wicket in quick succession as Ajinkya Rahane returned back to the pavilion scoring a brisk 42 runs from 44 balls.
Sarfaraz has carried his top form into this Ranji season after he scored 982 runs in six matches during the 2021-22 season and 928 runs in the 2019-20 season. After making five runs against Andhra Pradesh, he hammered an unbeaten 126 against Hyderabad in the team’s second match. In the third game, he scored 75 and 20 against Saurashtra, and in the fourth, he is back with a hundred.
Sarfaraz went on to score 162 runs from 220 balls as Mumbai folded for a massive 481 runs taking a 337 first innings lead. Tanush Koitan and Mohit Avasthi also scored half centuries scoring 71 and 69 runs respectively.
Tamil Nadu ended day 2 scoring 62 runs for the loss of one wicket still trailing by 275 runs.
Sarfaraz's average is now close to 80 after scoring his 12th century in 50 first class innings. He is however yet to reecieve a call-up to the senior national team. Rishabh Pant's absence could pave the way for the dashing middle order batsman after he was once again ignored for the Bangladesh series.
There were talks about including him in the team for the Bangladesh series at the end of the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season, but he was snubbed, and now, with Rishabh Pant out for an extended period of time, there is a chance for him to finally earn his maiden India Test call-up for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
