After two years of relentless effort and a significant physical transformation, Sarfaraz Khan has earned a well-deserved recall to India’s Test squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, capitalising on an injury to Sai Sudharsan
IMAGE: Sarfaraz Khan arrives for a Team India nets session in Colombo on Monday. Photograph: Kind courtesy Sonu/X
Key Points
- Sarfaraz Khan has been recalled to India’s Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka, starting August 15.
- The opportunity arose due to an injury sustained by Sai Sudharsan, opening a spot for Khan.
- Khan’s inclusion follows two years of consistent domestic performance and a significant physical transformation, including a 17kg weight loss.
- He is considered a strong player of spin bowling, a crucial asset against Sri Lanka’s attack.
- Khan’s previous exclusion after four failures against New Zealand in 2024 was hard to process, making this comeback particularly significant.
A few days before he was recalled to India’s Test squad, Sarfaraz Khan had declared on social media that, “I may not fit in, but I’ll fight with everything I’ve got.” It was a message of resolve but one that was acutely aware of the probabilities at that point
But as luck would have it, his resolve won. An injury to Sai Sudharsan opened up the window of opportunity which Sarfaraz had been waiting for the past two years. He was included for the two-match away Test series against Sri Lanka beginning on August 15
The recall could not have come at a more opportune time for the Mumbaikar, having done all that he could to fit in, including shedding 17kg in the past year and a half
For someone, who has fought the perception of being a bit burly for international cricket, despite scoring a marathon triple hundred in Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz now sports a sharper look, something that has certainly elevated his T20 game. Add to it, hours and hours spent at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Kashmir to sharpen his skills because seasonal rains made regular training impossible in Mumbai
The Road to Redemption
The comeback, therefore, is one to savour as being dropped after four failures against New Zealand, back in 2024, (he also scored a 150 in that series) was hard to process. It was a series in which everyone failed but the axe fell only on the 28-year-old
He then went to England and scored 92 for India A in an unofficial Test’ against England Lions apart from a century in an intra-squad game (India vs India A) at Beckenham. But the comeback still remained a distant dream until India’s meek surrender to South Africa at home set the alarm bells ringing
If sources are to be believed, the team management had, back then, enquired about Sarfaraz ahead of the second Test in Guwahati but the selection committee wasn’t ready to have him back in the fold. However, with Sudharsan’s right big-toe impact injury still far from healed, the national selection committee had three options — Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has a first-class career average in mid 40s, greenhorn Shaikh Rasheed who is more of a No. 3. The third and most logical option had to be Sarfaraz, who is probably the best player of spin bowling apart from skipper Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant in this current set-up.
Sarfaraz vs Jurel: A Comparison
IMAGE: A leaner, fitter Sarfaraz Khan. Photograph: Kind courtesy CricketGully/X
Also with Dhruv Jurel not really coming good against spinners for some time now (at least when he is playing for the senior national team), one can’t be sure that the Uttar Pradesh man will play as a pure batter against the island nation when the first Test starts in Galle on August 15
Jurel came to Sri Lanka last month as the skipper of the India A team and scored a big hundred and a fifty in the two ‘A’ Tests but in the practice game that ended on Sunday, he was out cheaply defending against an off-spinner
It is now well documented that Jurel has problems playing off-spinners. South Africa’s Simon Harmer got him thrice in four innings during the series against the Proteas
In case of Sarfaraz, he has better range of strokes, including the conventional and reverse sweep, which he can play in-front and behind the square
Dedicated Training Regimen
Post IPL, Sarfaraz played the Mumbai T20 league where he produced some blistering knocks for Akash Tigers Western Mumbai Suburbs
But once the monsoons hit Mumbai, he left for Kashmir, training against the net bowlers as well as some of the state team boys
He also did skills training on astro turf wicket at the MCA Indoor facility at BKC and rented private facilities around Kurla where he batted for hours on used and under-prepared red-soil tracks to keep his game top notch against slow bowlers
Now that he has managed to fit in, India would need him to fight the good fight against Prabath Jayasuriya and company this weekend
