Sarfaraz Khan: A Mumbai maidan cricketer’s long journey to India Test cap

Once hailed as one of India’s brightest prospects, Sarfaraz Khan spent a decade waiting for a chance to play international cricket.

Mumbai, India – Batting for nearly 10 hours at Mumbai’s Cross Maidan, Sarfaraz Khan first stole the limelight as a schoolboy in 2009 when he rewrote the history of the famed ground in the Indian metropolis renowned for producing great batters.

The then-12-year-old recorded the highest-ever score in the Harris Shield, a tournament known as the Holy Grail of school cricket in the city.

Dressed in traditional cricket whites – loose-fitting white shirt and track pants – the strongly-built boy from Kurla, an eastern lower middle-class suburb of the bustling city, scored 439 runs and became a national sensation.

Playing for Rizvi Springfield in the Under-16 category, Sarfaraz hit 56 fours and 12 sixes in his innings as he broke Ramesh Nagdev’s 46-year-old record of 427 not out. On his way, Sarfaraz went past the score of another Ramesh – the 346 runs scored by cricket legend Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar in 1988.

Following Sarfaraz’s record-breaking achievement, local newspapers and national media were quick to wonder if he would be “the next Tendulkar”, but the prodigy slid into obscurity.

For years, Sarfaraz sweated it out on Mumbai’s maidans (grounds) as he forged an impressive career in first-class cricket awaiting a call from the national selectors.

But as seasons passed and opportunities seemingly slipped through his grasp, Sarfaraz found himself in the shadows. He watched Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal – batters who came after him – take the big stage.

After spending a decade waiting for his moment, the gutsy batter finally found himself donning the Indian Test cap last month.