Sarfaraz raring to go for new season

Even though they knew Sarfaraz Khan was being retained by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore in advance, the Khan family couldn’t hide their tears of joy when the news broke officially on Thursday. His family has been through  trying eight-month period when Sarfaraz struggled with a knee injury.

Sarfaraz’ father Naushad and his brothers Moeen and Musheer helped him recuperate and kept motivating him. Naushad also runs Young Mohammedan Cricket Club at Azad Maidan and all his three sons play for it.

“The pitch we played on - John Bright - however, has largely been occupied for metro work for over a ear. The space there is too little to practice on. We’re planning to purchase one or two acres of land near Khadavali station, where my sons and club members can practice and play matches,” says Naushad, who will use Sarfaraz’ IPL contract money for it.

Back during IPL 10, Sarfaraz only opened once with Chris Gayle, before suffering an injury. He missed the whole season, but was still retained by RCB for `1.75 crore, ahead of big guns like Gayle and Yuzuvendra Chahal. The team retained the youngster besides Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

“I thank the RCB management for helping me recover from the knee injury and staying in constant touch. I also got encouraging messages from Virat that helped me battle tough times. Now, RCB has shown faith in me, and it’s my responsibility to do well. I’m feeling well at the moment, and looking forward to restarting my domestic career from where I left off,” says Sarfaraz.

The 20-year-old is currently part of the Uttar Pradesh senior team’s camp in Lucknow for the Zonal Twenty20 League.

“It was a tough time for all of us,” says Naushad about the surgery. “Though the expenses of his surgery and rehab that lasted six months were taken care of by RCB, emotionally, we had to pay a price. We had to motivate him by giving examples of (Jasprit) Bumrah, who was also operated on by Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala. We gave him examples of Ashish Nehra, who despite having more than 10 injuries and surgeries, came back into the Indian side as a fast bowler.”

At times, Sarfaraz wondered if he’d even be able to stand. He was also asked not to hold the bat for three or four months. But Naushad knew his eldest would be broken if he was kept away for that long. “I was scared but I had to keep him engaged. I started working on his upper body with theraband exercises so there’s no stress on his legs. He then started batting without running much and worked on front foot drives so his right knee wasn’t impacted much,” says Naushad. He also played for Kanga League C division, where he could pick gaps while batting and field in the slips. He ended with the top score of 362 runs.

The surgery was not just successful, Sarfaraz even made full recovery. “His feet started scoring well. When (Rahul) Dravid called him with other U19 World Cup members to take on the current squad, he made 150. He also struck a 100 in Times Shield,” Naushad proudly said.

Sarfaraz’ innovative shots and uppercuts had surprised the best bowlers in the world in his first two IPL seasons. He says, “I’m confident of delivering this time too. I’ve developed a new shot against the knuckleball, which I may use during Zonal Twenty20, if the situation demands.”