Sarfaraz Khan: 'Everyday I ask myself why I should work harder'

Sarfaraz Khan has said that "whenever a team comes out, I have expectations" after he was left out of the India A squad for New Zealand, but he is learning to just "play cricket" in the domestic circuit while he awaits another breakthrough. Sarfaraz last played for India nearly two years ago, against New Zealand at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium.

However, he did make it back to the India squad for the two Tests in Sri Lanka in August this year, as a replacement for the injured Sai Sudharsan. He did not get a game against Sri Lanka, but he said he learnt in the dressing room that he was being looked at mainly for Indian conditions. "The selectors didn't say it to me directly, but when I went to the Indian team recently, I heard that they are looking at me more for Indian conditions," he said, after the first day's play of Mumbai's Ranji Trophy fixture against Railways at the Brabourne Stadium.

"But still I have a question, that when I went to [South] Africa, I scored runs [for India A]. When I went to England, I scored. So sometimes when you make a comeback and you get a rank turner in India, suddenly you can't perform very well on a difficult wicket after scoring in domestic cricket. Or if you do, then 30-40-50 runs are enough on it. But it is not that I have not scored runs outside [India]. I have scored outside too. So it's okay. Ye unka nazariya hai (This is the selectors' perspective). My job is to play cricket. And I will play."

So far, Sarfaraz has played seven first-class matches for India A outside India, scoring 300 runs at an average of exactly 50 with three half-centuries. He played two A games in South Africa in 2021, two in Bangladesh in 2022 and two more in South Africa in 2023, and just one in England in May 2025.

In his last Test match, in 2024, he scored 0 and 1 against New Zealand. However, he had started the series by scoring 150. While Sarfaraz returned to the Test squad in India's last Test series, he was not considered for the Duleep Trophy at the start of the domestic season in September. He was, however, named the vice-captain of the Irani Cup side to face Ranji Trophy defending champions Jammu & Kashmir a month ago, where he scored 45 and 0.

His eyes were then on the India A squad, which was picked for New Zealand as a shadow tour before the Test series there starting later this month. However, he was not picked for the three four-day games.

Was he expecting a call for India A? "Obviously. Whenever a team comes out, I have expectations," he said. "But it's okay. It's in their (selectors') hands whether to select me or not. My job is to play cricket."

Meanwhile, Sarfaraz has been busy playing in the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai, with scores of 1, 154, 40 and most recently, 55 on Monday in the first innings against Railways. He averages 62.50 this season after those four innings, but he says going back to the grind of domestic cricket once again, having made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2014, has not been easy. "So many things have happened" in his career, he said, while he has been in and out of the Indian team.

"It's very difficult to score runs every season," Sarfaraz said. "I think I am still doing the same thing that I did with my father in the beginning. It's the same thing. I don't take off in the off-season, and I practice and keep batting. I don't know how many runs I am going to make.

"But when I came to Ranji Trophy 10-11 years ago, I worked hard the same way. I have the same routine. Everyone knows If you want to meet Sarfaraz Khan, you don't have to go to his house, you can meet him at Azad Maidan or Cross Maidan at 6 in the morning. It's very difficult to restart every year, come every year and work hard. Sometimes you get success, sometimes you don't. But this is my job, can't do anything."

What motivates Sarfaraz every morning, knowing that he had fulfilled his initial dream of getting the India cap in 2024, but with the realisation that breaking into that side again won't be easy?

"So many things have happened," he said. "I am not thinking much. I wake up every morning and ask myself the same question, why should I work harder? I have played for India, but I wake up at 5 in the morning and go [to train]. I can play for Ranji Trophy with normal hard work. I'm still scoring 30, 40, 50, 100. So sometimes I get these questions in my head. But it's okay. When I see that my father is working hard, he is sweating it out, then it's okay. I will go and score for him. It motivates me to wake up every morning.

"Everyone knows that I don't have [any other] support in my life. If I have support, it's only from my father. No one has supported me in my life. But it's okay. I worked hard; I fulfilled my father's dream [by playing for India]. It's not easy to play for India, especially in this generation. And it's not like I scored once or twice and played for India. I scored 300, 200, 250 [in domestic cricket] and worked hard and played for India.

"Motivation is to play cricket, that's it. Wherever I get a chance, I will play cricket. When it's off-season, I don't like to sit at home. I think I'm made for cricket. Wherever I get an opportunity… [If] Ranji Trophy, Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Hazare, IPL, Indian team calls me, I will go. If India A calls me, I will go. I want to play cricket."

In an attempt to make it back to the Test squad after being dropped in 2024, Sarfaraz went on a strict weight-loss regime of exercise and diet last year, losing 20 kg from 97 kg to his current weight 77 kg. Sarfaraz posted pictures of his weight loss on social media, which went viral last year, although he says nobody from the Indian or Mumbai team management asked him to do it.

"No one told me that I have to lose weight," he said. "But whatever I heard on social media, or from someone, that maybe I should lose weight. So I did it. Because whatever I hear, that I should work on something, I am doing that in my life. I can't do anything more than that.

"In reality, I was overweight. There is no doubt about that."

Sarfaraz's expressions reflect that he has accepted the reality that even if he doesn't get back into the Indian side soon, he must continue to score runs. "I'm not thinking much, I am just playing wherever I get a chance," he said. "They will call me up [again], I will go and play. Otherwise I'll continue to play here [in domestic cricket]."