Last month, there was much speculation about Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan not being selected for India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 match against Australia.
Despite being so successful in domestic cricket over the previous three seasons, Sarfaraz was not selected. In the Ranji Trophy seasons 2019–20 and 2021–2022, the right-hander accumulated more than 900 runs. In the 2022–23 Ranji Trophy, he continued to shine, accumulating 556 runs from six matches at an average of 92.66 with three hundreds.
Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant miraculously made it through the collision on the Delhi-Dehradun motorway in December, when his car hit a divider and caught fire. The incident took place in the Haridwar district between Manglaur and Narsan. Pant expressed his gratitude for the encouragement and good wishes he has received and said he is ready to take on the difficulties that lie ahead on his road to recovery.
In Pant’s absence, Sarfaraz will don the gloves for the Delhi Capitals this season. He has kept for his domestic team Mumbai Indians in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022. Just like Pant, Sarfaraz is an aggressive player who likes to take the attack to the opposition. Sarfaraz can be a dangerous player to deal with once he is set. He can tear apart any bowling lineup and can take the game away from the opposition in no time.
He has a huge role to play in the inexperienced middle order of the Capitals. The batter is excellent against any type of spin as he does not let the spinners bowl on one length. He can use his feet and tonk the bowler over his head. Once the bowler bowls a little short, he can use the depth of the crease to find the gaps. All of a sudden, he can also employ the option of sweeping if there is an excessive amount of turn on the wicket. He is the perfect player to play in the middle overs.
The batter can play unorthodox shots against fast bowlers. He can ramp the quick bowlers over fine leg or third man. If a bowler tries to attempt a short ball, he can play the upper scoop or a hard pull shot. Thus it becomes extremely difficult to bowl to him once he gets set.
Delhi will hope that under the mentorship of Ricky Ponting, the 25-year-old blossoms and make it a huge season for himself as well as the team.
