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I want to do better in the longer format: Sarfaraz Khan

Back in his humble Kurla abode after two months in the illustrious company of 'Virat bhaiyya, AB bhaiyya and Gayle bhaiyya', Sarfaraz Khan can't stop talking about the things he learnt by representing Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. Taus Rizvi catches up with the 17-year-old sensation

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The Taximen's Colony in Kurla has worn a busy look since Saturday evening. Friends, neighbours and relatives are trickling in to find out how life has changed for Sarfaraz Khan, the most popular lad of the housing society.

Plonking himself down on the sofa in his modest 1 BHK home, the 17-year-old feasts on the famous chicken pakoras of his locality. "Yahaan ka famous dish hai," he says while keeping an eye on the recordings of his knocks in Royal Challengers Bangalore colours. Keeping him company are his dad, Naushad Khan and younger brothers Moeen and Musheer.

"I never thought I would get to play so many (13) games. I was hoping to get a couple of games before being asked to pack my bags and leave for home. For me, just sharing the dressing room with Virat bhaiyya, AB (de Villiers) bhaiyya and (Chris) Gayle bhaiyya was enough, but I was lucky to get so many opportunities."

The 17-year-old right-hander went out to bat on eight occasions. In all, he tallied 111 runs with a best of 45 not out against Rajasthan Royals early in the tournament. The finisher also had four not-outs to show for his efforts. He averaged a tad below 28 and his strike-rate was a phenomenal 156.33.

Known to be slightly rotund and happy about it, Sarfaraz is serious about his diet these days. But the pakoras keep coming. The general perception has been that he looks fat on screen, but he is actually that plump. "I weighed 84 kg before the IPL. Now, I am 80. My aim is to lose another 5 kg before the next IPL," he says.

And he looks up to none other than captain Virat Kohli. "He is so fit. I have never seen him eat junk food. He is very concerned about his fitness. I saw him eat beetroot and some fruit or vegetable juice in the morning. He keeps eating dry fruits or ragi chips, which he also gifted me," he says before showing off a packet of crisps.

"I too have started following a particular diet. I have stopped eating rice or roti even though I can have rice and just live on roasted chicken and fish," he adds.

Coming back to his cricket, Sarfaraz says he never expected that this IPL would change his luck. "I just wanted to get the feel of being with the big players. I wanted to learn something from them. However, I got a lot of confidence when I hit a 32-ball 80 in one of the practice games and they were happy with me," he says.

The two knocks that made Sarfaraz a sensation were a 38-ball 45 against Rajasthan Royals and a 21-ball 31 against Chennai Super Kings in the Qualifier 2 that RCB lost. "That 45 is my favourite innings. I love watching Rajasthan play and scoring against them gave me a different high," he says.

In the same game, Kohli acknowledged the knock with a namaste. "He said 'namaste ji, kya baat hai ji'. He was very happy. I had a different perception of Virat before joining the team. I thought he must have a lot of attitude and would always be angry which is what people would say or write about him. But he is a different man altogether. A very nice and humble man and a great leader," Sarfaraz adds.

Elaborating his Qualifier 2 knock against CSK, Sarfaraz says, "It was tough one. Daniel (Vettori) sir had said that 130 should be good on this slow and low track. So I played patiently without trying too much," says Sarfaraz.

Talking about his RCB teammates, he is all praise for Gayle, de Villiers, Darren Sammy and Kohli. "Gayle bhai and AB bhai are the most chilled out. I would hang out with them. I took a lot of selfies, especially with Gayle. Even now, he texted me a picture where you can see the back of our jerseys," he adds.

Sarfaraz chatted a lot with his idol de Villiers. "AB is all about power and timing. His bat is not that huge. In fact, he doesn't need a big bat. He was impressed with the shots that I played especially with the 'ulta' shot (reverse sweep with back of the bat). He told me even he was trying to perfect that shot," Sarfaraz reveals.

Not just that, Sarfaraz enjoyed facing one of the world's best bowlers in Mitchell Starc. In the nets, that is. "I thought if I could face Starc in the nets, then I could handle anyone.

He never bowled the short ball as he knew I would play the upper cut," he adds. "Sammy was fun to be with. If the atmosphere in the dressing room was tense, he would crack some joke and everybody would start laughing," he says.

Didn't he find any problems with the language while communicating with the foreign players, especially their accents? "No. I could easily understand what they said," he says.

Every time we saw Sarfaraz on the telly, we saw him furiously chewing gum. "Sir Viv Richards used to chew gum. I am a big fan of his batting. Abba used to tell me how great he was. I watch his videos regularly and seek inspiration from him," he says.

Even as journalists start pouring in for bytes and demand that he stand next to the brand new SUV — a Renault Duster — with his aviators on, Sarfaraz gets all hesitant. "I wanted to buy this for my abba," he says, pointing to the vehicle. As far as sunglasses go, I don't know what people will think," he says before reluctantly wearing his sunglasses.

The youngster doesn't know what is his next plan. "I don't know. Maybe I will go to the National Cricket Academy or get back to normal training at Azad Maidan."

After showing his talent in the IPL, Sarfaraz has set sights on the longer format of the game. "That is important. I want to do better in the longer format. I will work hard this season to make a return to the Mumbai Ranji Trophy side," he concludes.
 

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