The 28-year-old Sarfaraz Khan faced a massive jolt when he was ignored for the Indian Test squad for the New Zealand Test series. The batter was last seen in action for the national team against the Kiwis in Mumbai, scoring just one run from the two innings.

Meanwhile, he showed his form with the bat after a slow start to the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. After scoring just 1 run for Mumbai against Chandigarh. Khan was not out on 139 at the end of the second day’s play in the second match against Himachal Pradesh in Bilaspur.

Sarfaraz faced 213 balls and hit 18 boundaries in his knock as the visitors took a lead of 258 runs. The wicketkeeper-batter Akash Anand was 58 not out off 152 balls with the help of six boundaries.

Sarfaraz made his Test debut in early 2024 against England in Ranchi. He scored 66 in his first innings. The batter scored his only century in the Test format against the Kiwis in Bengaluru. amassing 150.

He was recalled to the side for the Sri Lankan tour once Sai Sudharsan was ruled out. The right-handed batter didn’t get a chance to play, with India winning the series 1-0. Selectors will keep an eye on Sarfaraz as they earmark the players who could be picked for the Australia series starting in January 2027.

Mumbai end day two on a high note

Himachal Pradesh, who were bowled out for a mere 140 in their first innings, got the wicket of Divyansh Saxena for nine runs. They also dismissed Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 20 runs.

Musheer Khan and skipper Siddhesh Lad then added 122 runs for the third wicket in 248 balls. Musheer was eventually out for 57, which came off 137 balls with 10 hits to the fence. Lad fell 13 runs short of a ton when he was caught by Arpit Guleria to give Abhishek Kumar his second wicket of the game.

Tushar Deshpandewho took seven wickets against Chandigarh, continued his purple patch with the ball. The 31-year-old claimed four wickets for 46 runs. Akash Vashist was the best batter with 39, while skipper Pukhraj Mann managed 35 and wicketkeeper-batter Vaibhav Kalta notched up 33.