Sarfaraz Khan becomes first Mumbai batter to score double century in Irani Trophy

Sarfaraz Khan created history on Wednesday when he became the first Mumbai player to score a double century in the Irani Trophy.

Sarfaraz had walked into bat at number 6 after the dismissal of Shreyas Iyer against Rest of India and got to his double century in 253 deliveries while completing his ton in just 149 balls. He also became 11th player in 61 editions of the Irani Trophy to score a double century.

On his way to the milestone, Sarfaraz, who had been released from the Indian Test team for the Irani Cup, brought up a 131-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane.

Sensational Sarfaraz 💪 He brings double delight to Mumbai 👌👌 A calm, composed, stroke-filled & magnificent knock 👏#IraniCup | @IDFCFIRSTBank Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/Er0EHGOZKh pic.twitter.com/aPJAetIwUb — BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) October 2, 2024

Wasim Jaffer (Vidarbha), Ravi Shastri, Praveen Amre and Yashasvi Jaiswal (all for Rest of India) are double centurions in the Irani Cup.

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It has been a tough week for Sarfaraz as his younger brother Musheer, who was also supposed to play the game, was ruled out of competitive cricket for 16 weeks after a road accident.

If his brother and father Naushad’s car accident had perturbed him, it didn’t seem so in his batting as he went hammer and tongs at the Rest of India bowling attack.

💯 turns into 2⃣0⃣0⃣ 👌 A sensational double century for Sarfaraz Khan✌️ He becomes the 1⃣st Mumbai player to score a double ton in #IraniCup 👏 The celebrations say it all 🎉#IraniCup | @IDFCFIRSTBank Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/Er0EHGOZKh pic.twitter.com/225bDX7hhn — BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) October 2, 2024

He played 160 dot balls but still maintained a 80 percent strike-rate, largely due to his 25 boundaries and four sixes.

Skipper Rahane (97 off 234 balls) missed out on a 40th first-class hundred but the second day belonged to Sarfaraz, who was in a mood to punish pacers and spinners alike.

His 15th first-class century will certainly dispel all doubts about his slot as reserve middle-order batter for the remainder of the Test season (8 games).

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Rahul, who got back his middle-order slot from Sarfaraz, did well in Kanpur but the team management and even the Karnataka batter knows that the stockily built Mumbaikar is breathing down his neck.

(With agency inputs)

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