After Test call-up, Sarfaraz hopes to join league of legends Richards-Miandad

The mountain of runs that he scored in domestic circuit might have opened the doors of Indian cricket to him but for Sarfaraz Khan the learning never stops as he aspires to join the league of legends like Virat Kohli Viv Richards and Javed MiandadSarfaraz has been recently drafted into the India squad for the IND vs ENG 2nd Test starting from Friday after KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out due to injuriesThe prolific Mumbai batter turned into a fanboy while discussing his learning processI like to watch Virat Kohli AB de Villiers Sir Vivian Richards and even Javed Miandad because my dad has told me that I play like him I watch Joe Roots batting alsoAnyone who is succeeding I am watching them to see how they are doing it so I can learn and apply it I want to continue doing this whether its in the Ranji Trophy or playing for India in the future Sarfaraz told JioCinemaBut then there is a reallife hero for Sarfaraz his father Naushad Ahmed who dedicated countless hours to make his son a cricketerMy father introduced me to cricket and I always wondered why am I even playing I am an attacking batsman and I used to get out sooner than others and scoring big runs was getting difficult It was disheartening to see others succeed while I wouldnt be among the runs But my dad always believed in hard work and everything I have is a result of that work said SarfarazIn the 20152016 domestic season Sarfaraz opted to play for Uttar Pradesh after he ran into trouble with Mumbai selectors during an under19 gameAlso Read Test snub needles Sarfaraz Khan againSarfaraz said his dad would travel to UP or wherever the team played to watch him batEven when I moved from Mumbai to UP he would take flights to come and see me He would start bowling to me on the terrace or the road itself before selection trialsNow I realise the impact and importance of those efforts he addedAfter two modest seasons with UP Sarfaraz decided to return to Mumbai after gaining a NOC from UPCA and the 26yearold admitted it was a tough moment for himBut Sarfaraz said his father was the pillar of strength in this phaseWhen I came back to Mumbai from UP I was scared if this would bring a halt to my career and I strongly felt there was no future ahead of meBut my dad always stood by me Theres no guarantee in life if you dont get opportunities he saidBut there were opportunities galore for him in Mumbai and his career blossomed thereNow Sarfaraz has 3912 runs from 45 FirstClass matches at an average of 6985 with 14 hundreds and 11 fiftiesEven in the redball format Sarfaraz strikes at 7048 making him a standout performerSo how does he score so consistently Sarfaraz revealed the secretMy strength is that I am not easily satisfied I play 500600 balls every day If I dont play at least 200300 balls in a match I feel like I havent done much Its a habit nowIf you want to play fiveday cricket you have to stay patient and practice every day I play cricket all day and thats why I can stay on the pitch for a long time Sarfaraz addedIND vs ENG 2nd Test Probable squadsRohit Sharma captain Shubman Gill Yashasvi Jaiswal Shreyas Iyer KS Bharat WK Dhruv Jurel WK Ravichandran Ashwin Axar Patel Kuldeep Yadav Mohd Siraj Mukesh Kumar Jasprit Bumrah VC Avesh Khan Rajat Patidar Sarfaraz Khan Washington Sundar Sourabh Kumar