Sarfaraz Khan, whose first triple ton helped Mumbai take the first-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh, believed that he was the kind of player who could change the course of the game.
Despite suffering from a bout of illness two nights ago, Sarfaraz scored an unbeaten 301, which propelled Mumbai to go past Uttar Pradesh’s first-innings mammoth score of 625/8 declared and take three points on the last day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game.
“I wasn’t going to come out to bat,” Sarfaraz said after the game. He added, “I wasn’t well for the last two-three days. But I felt that I was the kind of player who could change the game if I remained in the middle. So, I came out and played for the team.”
Watch: Sarfaraz Khan’s triple century against Uttar Pradesh
Sarfaraz’s triple century is only the third such score by a first-class batsman batting at No 6 in first-class cricket, and the second after Karun Nair in Ranji Trophy history.
Before Sarfaraz, Mumbai’s last triple centurion was ace batsman Rohit Sharma.
“I didn’t think I would be able to go all the way. When I got to 250, I felt I should declare (retire), but the team backed me a lot,” said the 22-year-old, who returned to Mumbai after playing in the Uttar Pradesh squad for three seasons.
According to Sarfaraz, the pace of his innings slowed down after getting to 200. “After I got to 200, I slowed down. I did not hit a boundary for an hour until tea after I went past 200, my aim was that we had to go past 625,” he said.
Expressing faith in Mumbai’s lower order Sarfaraz said, “I knew that Shams [Mulani] is a player who gets fours easily.”
Sarfaraz’s father Naushad came to watch his innings from Pune. Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare too said Sarfaraz has worked on his batting. “He [Sarfaraz] always had talent. He works really hard on his batting. He is always practising and prepares himself well. He is a cricketer who improves,” Tare said.