Ranji Trophy: Sarfaraz’s ton propels Mumbai to 374, MP finishes second day at 123/1

Bengaluru: Sarfaraz Khan completed his transformation from Mumbai cricket’s resident ‘enfant terrible’ to ‘Man Friday’ with a superb hundred that kept his side ahead against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy final, here on Thursday.

Courtesy Sarfaraz’s fourth hundred of the season – 134 off 243 balls – the 41-time champions managed a fighting 374 in their first innings after beginning the day at 248 for five. But Madhya Pradesh won’t be too unhappy as they finished the second day at 123 for one with Yash Dubey (44 batting) and Shubham Sharma (41 batting) adding 76 runs for the unbroken second wicket.

The day belonged to none other than Sarfaraz, who has now scored an astounding 937 runs in Ranji Trophy in just six games and could make it 1000 for the season if Mumbai bat again in this match. His batting with the tail showed his new-found maturity, which is proving to be a boon for Mumbai cricket.

Once he reached his fifty, he touched the lion’s crest on his jersey, gesturing ‘Don’t worry, I am going nowhere’. His batting isn’t as pleasing to the eye as Prithvi Shaw’s but highly effective. His batting is assuring. He knows how to score those runs on a track that is largely two-paced and in overcast conditions with the ball doing a fair bit.

Having entered ’90s, he played a typical T20 scoop over keeper’s head while being partially blindsided and completely off-balance. It was a sight worth capturing. At 97, MP skipper Shrivastava put all his fielders at the boundary line with two standing at long-on and long-off.

The ploy wasn’t good enough to stop Sarfaraz as he thumped one over bowler’s head which went to the boundary. The celebration was a war cry and a thigh thump. There were tears of relief that he shed having accomplished what he had set out to do.

The Indian Test team’s middle-order is still jam-packed but the manner in which Sarfaraz is batting, to put it in head coach Rahul Dravid’s words, he is not just knocking but banging the selection door down.

Sarfaraz was involved in four small, but very effective, partnerships which could prove to be decisive if the match turns out to be an affair of one innings. He added 40 for seventh wicket with Tanush Kotian (15), 26 for the eighth wicket with Dhawal Kulkarni (1), 39 for the ninth with Tushar Deshpande (6) and another 21 priceless runs for the final wicket with Mohit Avasthi (7).

By the time, he became Mumbai’s last batter to be dismissed, he had ensured that the total is good enough for his bowlers to defend. But there are ominous signs as MP batters have looked solid so far and Mumbai’s bowling line-up hasn’t made much of an impact, save Tushar Deshpande’s delivery that straightened to find Himanshu Mantri’s (31) pads.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 374 in 127.4 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 134; Gaurav Yadav 4/106, Anubhav Agarwal 3/81) vs MP 123/1 in 41 overs (Yash Dubey 44 batting). PTI