Irani Cup: Sarfaraz Khan smashes double ton
The legend of Sarfaraz Khan as a domestic doyen is growing as his authoritative double hundred for Mumbai not only put Rest of India under immediate pressure in the ongoing Irani Cup but will also keep the seasoned KL Rahul on his toes when the Indian team embarks on the Test tour of Australia next month.
Sarfaraz (221 not out off 276 balls) became the first cricketer to score an Irani Cup double hundred for Mumbai, with the 42-time champions reaching 536/9 at the end of the second day. Wasim Jaffer (Vidarbha), Ravi Shastri, Praveen Amre and Yashasvi Jaiswal (all for Rest of India) are the previous double centurions in the Irani Cup.
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.
Sarfaraz played 160 dot balls but still maintained an 80 per cent strike-rate, due to his 25 fours and four sixes.
Skipper Ajinkya 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 a reserve middle-order batter for the remainder of the Test season.
Brief scores: Mumbai: 536/9 (Sarfaraz 221*, Rahane 97; Mukesh 4/109, Dayal 2/89, Krishna 2/102) vs Rest of India.
