Sarfaraz Khan’s ommission from the Indian squad for their recently concluded five-Test series in England raised quite a few eyebrows. As the epic series unfolded, images of Sarfaraz appeared in which he was much leaner than before. Sarfaraz is now avoiding having a long break from cricket by playing in the Kanga League.
Playing for the Parkophone Cricketers, Sarfaraz scored 61 off 42 balls against Islam Gymkhana. “During my childhood, I heard a lot of stories from my father [coach Naushad Khan] about how Sunil Gavaskar sir once turned up for a Kanga League match despite returning from England the same morning,” Sarfaraz is quoted as saying by Mid-Day.
“So, [his younger brother] Musheer and I have always taken pride in playing this tournament. While returning from Nagpur last evening [Saturday], we were hoping it wouldn’t rain today. It rained a bit this morning, but when I reached Islam Gymkhana, the weather was good. I played my last Kanga League match three years ago. I was going through the league fixture book before this game and saw my name in it for scoring a century in 2018 and it felt nice.”
Sarfaraz said that all Mumbai players should be playing in the league. Named after Hormasji Kanga, who played in the early 20th century, the competition was inaugurated in 1948. The overcast conditions and moisture in the pitch that tends to be prevalent around the time of the year in Mumbai when the tournament is held makes it difficult for batters to score runs and international cricketers generally have tended to give it a miss.
“All Mumbai players should play [Kanga League]. Some players feel that if they fail here, it’ll be bad for their future. But if Gavaskar sir and Sachin Tendulkar sir thought the same way, they might not have gone on to become legends. If big players play in this tournament, it will be an inspiration for the city’s youngsters. Kanga League is such a tournament that if you succeed here, you can score runs anywhere in the world,” said Sarfaraz.
