Sarfaraz Khan is only 22-year-old but his career gone through a roll coaster ride. At one point of time he was considered to be the next batting prodigy from Mumbai, but he could life up the expectation and his career never took off. He first came into the limelight when he became the youngest player to be picked up by the franchise in the 2015 IPL Auction by Royal Challengers Bangalore, and was with them for four seasons under the leadership of Virat Kohli. He didn’t disappoint the management and made a mark with his hard-hitting batting skill of playing. He improved his game by playing against rivals on the grounds across the world thanks to exposure at the Under-19 level.
Sarfaraz had moved from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket but plan didn’t fall through as his career didn’t progress and as a result, he made the journey back home. He also holds a rare foot of scoring a triple century for Mumbai against Uttar Pradesh in Ranji Trophy and joined Mumbai’s triple-century club, alongside great players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Wasim Jaffer and Rohit Sharma.
Ever since the lockdown has been declared, he is stationed in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh and seen helping the migrant workers in the nearby areas. Kings XI Punjab player along with his father Naushad Khan have together are distributing lunch packets and mineral water bottles to migrant workers, who were travelling in auto-rickshaws and trucks, on the Gorakhpur road. The lunch packs contained a banana, apples.
The young player also informed their Eid plan this year and revealed that “We will not celebrate Eid this time. The money we would have spent to buy new clothes and accessories on Eid, will now be spent on those needing help. We urge all those who are economically well, but also come forward to help others in this time.”
Sarfaraz also added “We’re distributing food and water bottles to people because so many people are returning to their villages due to the fear of coronavirus. They are hungry and thirsty, and have been travelling for so many days. We also stay hungry during Ramadan, so we have an idea about the value of food and water. We’ve decided not to celebrate Eid this time. We will not buy clothes, shoes or anything new this time. We will help out these migrant people instead.”
The 22-year-old has had a dream run at the Ranji Trophy season for Mumbai and went on to score 928 runs in 6 games with a superb average of 154.66. He was also retained by Kings XI Punjab post having one of his better outing in the IPL. He was looking forward to play the Indian Premier League and but it was postponed till the further notice ever since lockdown was imposed in the country.
During these tough time during various activities to keep himself motivated “I’m watching old videos of legendary players to motivate myself. I get to learn a lot by watching great batsmen like Viv Richards hitting hundreds. I’m just praying that the virus havoc ends, and everyone stays safe. I was doing my batting practice on our terrace with a practice ball, with abbu having innovated to create a special ‘net’ for me. However, from today, Ramzan has started. So, I’m doing my batting drill with a hanging ball. After iftari, I do a bit of fitness exercises.”
Vikramroymehta's Blog 