Donning the red jersey of RCB, who picked up he wonderkid for Rs 50 lakh at the auction last month, Sarfaraz made 11 off seven deliveries before being caught in the deep. For a few minutes, the Taximen's Colony in Kurla came to life when Sarfaraz hit Ravindra Jadeja for a beautiful inside-out sixer.
The Khan household was shedding tears of joy on Wednesday evening. After all, the eldest son of the family, Sarfaraz Khan, was brushing shoulders with the Dhonis and Kohlis of the world.
Only 17, Sarfaraz did the city's cricketing fraternity proud by becoming the youngest IPL player when Royal Challengers hosted Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Donning the red jersey of RCB, who picked up he wonderkid for Rs 50 lakh at the auction last month, Sarfaraz made 11 off seven deliveries before being caught in the deep. For a few minutes, the Taximen's Colony in Kurla came to life when Sarfaraz hit Ravindra Jadeja for a beautiful inside-out sixer.
Sarfaraz's father and coach, Naushad Khan, was emotional on Thursday. "What can I say? It was my dream to see him play big-ticket cricket. The IPL is the most popular cricket tournament in the world. And my son was out there playing with such world-class players. Come to think of it, when Sarfaraz came out to bat, MS Dhoni was behind the stumps, Virat Kohli was standing at the non-striker's end and Ravindra Jadeja was the bowler," Naushad said.
Ever since the IPL started on April 8, Sarfaraz's well-wishers were hoping to see him get a chance. Apart from making an impression in the nets, Sarfaraz has been busy garnering 'likes' for posting 'selfies' with Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Darren Sammy among others. It's a matter of time before he gets one with his favourite batsman, AB de Villiers. On Thursday, he expressed awe over the "52 messages, 226 friend requests and 85 notifications" he received in just "four hours".
"My son adores AB de Villiers," said Naushad, who has spent years honing Sarfaraz's batting skills on the maidans of Mumbai. After setting the Azad Maidan on fire with tonnes of big scores, including a then-world record 439 in the Harris Shield, Sarfaraz made the big leap by playing for India in the ICC Under-19 World Cup. There, he impressed none other than Greg Chappell.
"It's been a long journey. But this seems just the beginning now," Naushad said, referring to challenges ahead.
The father could not realise his cricketing dream. But he has done all he can to ensure his son doesn't miss out on the high of playing the game at the higher levels.
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