He is very close to Test selection – Sanjay Manjrekar on in-form Sarfaraz Khan

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes in-form Sarfaraz Khan is very close to Test selection for the national team. Khan has been in sensational form in the last couple of seasons of the Ranji Trophy and he is ticking all the right boxes to get selectors’ attention.

Khan scored a fine knock of 134 runs in the first innings of the ongoing Ranji Trophy final against Madhya Pradesh at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

In the ongoing season of the Ranji Trophy, the youngster has amassed 937 runs in six matches at an outstanding average of 133.85. Furthermore, he has scored his runs at an impressive strike rate of 68.69. The right-hander has scored four centuries and two fifties in Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season as he has batted at the top of his game.

“Because of the way he bats and you sort of wonder whether he’s a potential kind of Test player. But the amount of runs he has got in two seasons; one is right about the daddy hundreds; he gets big scores and it comes very quickly at a great strike rate. Even if there is not a spot readily available as you want to try out the incumbents, like Shreyas Iyer has grabbed the opportunity as a Test batter by scoring runs,” said Manjrekar in a virtual interaction organised by Sony Sports.

“There’s absolutely no harm in getting Sarfaraz Khan closer to the Indian Test squad because when somebody performs this heavily at the Ranji Trophy level, it’s also to send a strong message that we care about Ranji Trophy cricket. You care about first-class cricket and when you recognise performances of Ranji Trophy cricket and reward players with inclusion at the Test level, the international level, then you elevate the importance of Ranji Trophy cricket. He is very deserving to coming very close of Test squad selection,” concluded Manjrekar.

Furthermore, Khan had scored 928 runs in nine innings in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season. Thus, the 24-year-old middle-order batter is definitely knocking at the selection doors and he deserves his place in India’s Test squad after such impressive performances.

Khan must have grown in confidence and he would look to continue the good show to keep himself in the selection fray.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh was 141-1 at the end of Day 3 play after Mumbai posted 374 runs in the first innings.