1. Home
  2. How Sarfaraz Khan with his cheeky strokeplay is beginning to impress

How Sarfaraz Khan with his cheeky strokeplay is beginning to impress

May 1, 2015

May 1: It's not easy to impress Virat Kohli. And it isn't easy to outshine AB de Villiers. Sarfaraz Khan did both on Wednesday night in Bangalore, first sending the capacity crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium into raptures and then getting the captain, Kohli, to walk up and fold his hands in a light-hearted salute.

Sarfaraz Khan

At 17, Sarfaraz is the youngest to play in the IPL. Against Rajasthan Royals, he walked in when de Villiers was run out off the penultimate ball of the 14th over after scoring a 45-ball 57. Sarfaraz's charge began with an upper-cut four off James Faulkner in the 16th over.

Then a back of the bat reverse sweep - where the risk seemed to outweigh the reward - with a close infield fetched just one. Sarfaraz wasn't too thrilled; he smacked Faulkner's next to the third-man boundary. In the next over, two fours came off Shane Watson, the Rajasthan captain, both in the direction of third man - an outside edge and a cheeky ramp shot - leaving the experienced Australian looking a bit out of ideas.

Despite losing Dinesh Karthik to a run out, Sarfaraz extended his reign on the night. It was Pravin Tambe's turn to be the target of his Mumbai colleague's cheekiness next.

The first four was a sweep over fine-leg. The next one had him storming out and launching the 43-year-old leg-spinner over the long-off fence. Then came an inside-out drive that went past the long-off boundary in an over that fetched 18 runs.

Sarfaraz, by then, had caught the attention of both the dugouts. He had also captured the imagination of the crowd, which chanted 'Sarfar-raaz, Sar-far-raaz'. Even the Twitter world went gaga over the new star on the block - Sensational Sarfaraz, they called him. From VVS Laxman to Michael Vaughan to Tom Moody, everyone raved about the short and slightly plump right-hander's fearless approach. David Lloyd even urged English county teams to rope him in as soon as possible. "I've always advised hi ..

"He wasn't nervous that he would be facing some of the best international bowlers in the IPL. He has always batted that way." Branded the next big thing from the Bombay School of Batsmanship, comparisons weren't restricted to jus t Sachin Tendulkar, some even saw a bit of Javed Miandad and Aravinda de Silva in him.

The IPL is a perfect potpourri of hunger, passion and, possibly, stardom, and Sarfaraz certainly went from anonymity to prominence with his unbeaten 21-ball 45. It must have helped that B Arun, Sarfaraz's Under-19 coach and Bangalore's assistant coach, has never been short of valuable advice. "Bharat sir was a lower-order batsman himself, he was aware of Sarfaraz's talent and got him to bat at No. 6," pointed out Naushad.

"It is one of main reasons for Sarfaraz's aggressive style of batting, he knows his role well as a finisher." Maybe there was a reason the rain decided to interrupt the proceedings soon after Bangalore had amassed 200 for 7 against Rajasthan.

Maybe Sarfaraz deserved to keep the spotlight on him, without the Rajasthan batsmen taking away a share. He certainly got it.

Maybe Sarfaraz deserved to keep the spotlight on him, without the Rajasthan batsmen taking away a share. He certainly got it.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 3,2020

Silverstone, Aug 2: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Sunday won his seventh British Grand Prix title after a dramatic last-lap at the Silverstone Circuit.

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were at the first and second spot respectively until tyre drama struck.

Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on lap 50, resulting in 11th place finish. Hamilton also suffered a similar issue before the final few seconds of the race.

However, with Max Verstappen having opted to pit a few laps from the end to try and claim the fastest lap, Hamilton had enough time in hand to just cross the line first, five seconds ahead of Verstappen and the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz had been set to finish fourth, but his own last lap tyre issue saw him eventually come home P13, allowing Renault's Daniel Ricciardo to claim fourth, following a late pass on the sister McLaren of Lando Norris.

Renault's Esteban Ocon finished sixth, having enjoyed a race-long battle with Lance Stroll's Racing Point, with Pierre Gasly having enjoyed a fine race to finish seventh for AlphaTauri.

Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, having recovered from a lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that saw him fall to last, while Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10, Vettel holding off a late charge form the recovering Mercedes of Bottas.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday paid tributes to Indian Army soldiers, who were killed during the face-off with the Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.

Extending condolences to the kin of bravehearts, Kohli said, "No one is more selfless and brave than a soldier."

"Salute and deepest respect to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect our country in the Galwan Valley. NO one is more selfless and brave than a soldier. Sincere condolences to the families. I hope they find peace through our prayers at this difficult time," he tweeted.

The violent face-off happened on late evening and night of June 15 in Ladakh's Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to "unilaterally change" the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India said on Tuesday.

The Army confirmed that 20 soldiers were killed in the face-off, including 17 who were critically injured at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain.

Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area in Ladakh where they had earlier clashed on the night of June 15 and 16, Indian Army said.

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan tweeted, "We will always be indebted to our jawans of #IndianArmy who lost their lives in #GalwanValley #JaiHind."

Expressing similar sentiments, Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan wrote, "A sacrifice that will never be forgotten by the nation. Heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the Indian Army officer and the two soldiers. Saluting your bravery, Jai Hind! #GalwanValley."

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and is one of the easiest guys to interact with.

Bravo was doing an Instagram live chat with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the all-rounder was asked to talk about his stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

"I think a lot of credit for CSK's success has to be given to Dhoni and Fleming, obviously the owners, they trust both Fleming and Dhoni, so there is no outside interference when it comes to decision making, both are very big students of the game, players love MS and it's an environment and franchise that allows you to be you," Bravo told Mbangwa during the chat.

"MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and in our team. He was one of the easiest people to interact with, outside of the cricket field, he is like playing video games, his door is open at all times, whenever you talk about the biggest superstar and then you think a person like Dhoni is the most humble of them all. CSK is a special team and we have the most loyal fans," he added.

Bravo has been with the CSK since 2011. He has played a total of 104 matches for the franchise, picking up 121 wickets.

The all-rounder has also managed to win the Purple Cap (most wickets in IPL) two times (2013 and 2015).

CSK has won the IPL thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) and all the titles have come under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the high-profile game.

This year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

The board had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

Dhoni is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He would have been leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29.

However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.