The tale of how Sarfaraz Khan followed Gavaskar’s advice given to him in 2009 on his debut in the Rajkot Test match
By K.R. Nayar
Dubai. I have been fortunate to witness many cricketers perform brilliantly as youngsters, from Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli, before they became legendary Test cricketers. While they have worked hard to achieve that status, I never got to see them train, even though I have been with them for many days. Sarfaraz Khan, who on his Test debut in Rajkot earlier this week has created ripples through two consecutive half centuries, had given me the opportunity to witness his training sessions eight years ago.
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| Sarfaraz Khan meets Sunil Gavaskar for the first time with Shyam Bhatia |
Khan was part of the G Force training camp conducted by coach Gopal Jasapara at the Epsom College in England in 2016. Cricket enthusiast Shyam Bhatia had sponsored Sarfaraz Khan and his younger brother Musheer Khan’s trip so that they could be at this camp. I saw the two brothers train hard from many days from dawn to dusk. The result is that Sarfraz made it to the Indian Test team and Musheer has become the prolific run-getter for the India Under-19 team. The day is not far when these two brothers will become part of the Indian senior team.
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| The day Sarfaraz Khan with his record breaking score |
The first time I heard about Sarfaraz was when, in
2009, he broke Tendulkar’s school record scoring 439 in an inter-school match
in Mumbai hitting 56 boundaries and 12 sixes.
After that feat, I had spoken to Sarfaraz and done a story in the Gulf News. On reading this story, Bhatia, who always encourages budding talent, mentioned about his interest in contacting Sarfaraz. After speaking to the Naushad Khan, the boy’s father, Bhatia flew to Mumbai and presented Sarfaraz with a cricket kit and offered him a scholarship for his studies and training.
The cricket kit was presented to him by Kiran More and Zaheer Khan at the Cricket Club of India at a function. Bhatia then helped the boy realise his dream of meeting the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. Sarfaraz’s father, Naushad, used to play in UAE’s domestic cricket in the early eighties representing Mashreq Bank in the Sharjah cricket tournaments during his working days here.
There is an interesting story about why Sarfaraz’s two knocks of 60s are special. In 2009, I had written about Sarfaraz meeting Gavaskar that was told to me by Bhatia. Talking about Sarfaraz’s joy on meeting Gavaskar, Bhatia had said, "It was a pleasure to see the excitement in the boy's eyes. It was his dream to meet Gavaskar. The boy was highly motivated as Gavaskar spoke to him for nearly 20 minutes and gave him some vital tips. He advised him not to look at the scoreboard while batting, telling him that he would automatically know of his half-century when the crowd applauds. Gavaskar also advised him not to expect to score 400 or 200 runs every time he bats. Even a short knock of 60 runs in the process of his team's victory should be considered a valuable contribution.”
Interestingly, it is this advice given to him in 2009 that Sarfaraz carried with him into the Rajkot Test match. He scored two knocks of 60’s, and both his knocks were vital in India’s victory over England.
Whenever Sarfaraz and his brother perform well, Naushad makes it a point to inform me right away. And I make it a point to respond to him with all my best wishes for more success to come their way.
Amidst the tears and toil to get both his sons to represent Team India is a father who encouraged them constantly to chase their dream.
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| Sarfaraz Khan at the Epsom camp in 2009 |
After that feat, I had spoken to Sarfaraz and done a story in the Gulf News. On reading this story, Bhatia, who always encourages budding talent, mentioned about his interest in contacting Sarfaraz. After speaking to the Naushad Khan, the boy’s father, Bhatia flew to Mumbai and presented Sarfaraz with a cricket kit and offered him a scholarship for his studies and training.
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| Sunil Gavaskar presents Shyam Bhatia's book 'Portraits of the Game' to Sarfaraz Khan |
The cricket kit was presented to him by Kiran More and Zaheer Khan at the Cricket Club of India at a function. Bhatia then helped the boy realise his dream of meeting the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. Sarfaraz’s father, Naushad, used to play in UAE’s domestic cricket in the early eighties representing Mashreq Bank in the Sharjah cricket tournaments during his working days here.
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| Kiran More and Zaheer Khan present the cricket kit from Shyam Bhatia to Sarfaraz Khan |
There is an interesting story about why Sarfaraz’s two knocks of 60s are special. In 2009, I had written about Sarfaraz meeting Gavaskar that was told to me by Bhatia. Talking about Sarfaraz’s joy on meeting Gavaskar, Bhatia had said, "It was a pleasure to see the excitement in the boy's eyes. It was his dream to meet Gavaskar. The boy was highly motivated as Gavaskar spoke to him for nearly 20 minutes and gave him some vital tips. He advised him not to look at the scoreboard while batting, telling him that he would automatically know of his half-century when the crowd applauds. Gavaskar also advised him not to expect to score 400 or 200 runs every time he bats. Even a short knock of 60 runs in the process of his team's victory should be considered a valuable contribution.”
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| Sarfaraz Khan with coach Ian Trott, father of Jonathan Trott, and Gopal Jasapara during the camp in England |
Interestingly, it is this advice given to him in 2009 that Sarfaraz carried with him into the Rajkot Test match. He scored two knocks of 60’s, and both his knocks were vital in India’s victory over England.
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| Naushad Khan's What's App messages that helped me trail Sarfaraz's fine knocks |
Whenever Sarfaraz and his brother perform well, Naushad makes it a point to inform me right away. And I make it a point to respond to him with all my best wishes for more success to come their way.
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| Gopal Jasapara with Sarfaraz Khan and his brother Musheer Khan during the early days of their career |
Amidst the tears and toil to get both his sons to represent Team India is a father who encouraged them constantly to chase their dream.
Fantastic Facts KR, this column makes my day as I was looking forward to Sarfaraz's debut and always felt if Sachin could debut at 16 at the behest of Raj Singh Dungarpur...Why not Sarfaraz
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