Sarfaraz Khan, the talented Mumbai and Indian batter, once again proved his mettle and exceptional talent by scoring a brilliant double-century in the Irani Cup. Not only did his performance give him weightage for selection to the Indian team in the coming months, but it also placed him among cricket's all-time greats.
Despite not being included in the Test squad for India's recent series against Bangladesh, Sarfaraz responded with a display of his batting skills in the Irani Cup match against Rest of India (ROI). His unbeaten 222 runs made him the first-ever Mumbai batter to achieve a double hundred in an Irani Cup match.
Sarfaraz's double hundred and brilliant batting with the willow earned him a place among cricket's top players, such as Don Bradman and Vijay Merchant. He now holds a spot on a prestigious all-time list of First-Class cricket averages alongside the very best players in the sport.
With his unbeaten 222 in the Irani Cup, his First-Class average soared to an impressive 69.20. This put Sarfaraz fourth on the all-time list of highest averages for players with at least 2000 First-Class runs, an elite group led by none other than Don Bradman.
Bradman, regarded as the greatest batsman in cricket history, dominates the list with an average of 95.14—a figure that has stood the test of time.
Recently, Sarfaraz revealed how despite not being in the Indian team, he maintains his fitness and said that he starts his day with long-distance running at 4:30 AM. "There is nothing called off-season for me. I would wake up by 4.15 am and by 4.30 am, I will start the day with long-distance running. It was very helpful to improve my fitness because, by the end of the month, I was able to run 5 km in 30-31 minutes," Sarfaraz had told theindianexpress.com.