Bengaluru: One of the most vital tournaments of Indian cricket is going through its final phase this week. The finals of the prestigious Ranji Trophy are unfolding at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium between Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh.
Test matches in Cricket often show the resilience, temperament, and character of a player. In one of the most competitive tournaments of first-class cricket, a player has certainly made an impact for two consecutive seasons. Sarfaraz Khan, a right-handed batsman from Mumbai has proved himself at every given opportunity.
An illustrious first-class career since the beginning with 2315 runs in just 24 matches with 8 centuries, 7 half-centuries, and the highest score of 301 runs. His extraordinary capabilities and consistency have helped him rise up and perform for his side. He has scored 937 runs in this season which includes four centuries.
Sarfaraz managed to hit a century in the finals against Madhya Pradesh leading his team to 374 runs in the 1st innings. After getting to the century mark, an emotional Sarfaraz celebrated with teary eyes thanking his father followed by a thappi marking tribute to the late singer Sidhu Moosewala.
The 24-year-old batsman might be picked for the upcoming test series to be played against Bangladesh in November. With continuous runs coming out from his bat, Sarfaraz Khan has been able to surpass legends like VM Merchant in terms of the highest batting average in first-class cricket with an average of 82.83 in 25 matches. He is currently behind Sir Don Bradman in world cricket who had an average of 95.14 in 234 matches.
However, Mumbai is falling behind in the ongoing Ranji Trophy Finals after Madhya Pradesh took lead in the first innings by scoring 536 runs with a lead of 162 runs. Yash Dubey, Shubham Sharma, and Rajat Patidar dominated the innings with centuries taking their team closer to the first-ever Ranji Trophy title.
Madhya Pradesh won the Ranji Trophy title for the first time beating the 42-times winner Mumbai.