Sarfaraz Khan made his maiden first-class hundred for India A, against England Lions. He took only 89 balls to reach the mark.

At Ahmedabad, Sarfaraz Khan blazed away to his 14th first-class hundred, his first in the format for India A, in the second unofficial ‘Test’ against England Lions.

The Lions were bowled out for 152 on the first day after their captain Josh Bohannon won the toss and opted to bat. Oliver Price top-scored with 48, while Brydon Carse made 31 from No.8. For India, Akash Deep returned 4-46.

Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (58) and Devdutt Padikkal (106) outscored the Lions’ total for the opening wicket, but India A soon slipped from 152-0 to 184-4 as Matthew Potts and Carse struck twice each.

Washington Sundar arrived at this point and dropped anchor at one end as Sarfaraz played his shots. Before this match, Sarfaraz boasted of a first-class average of 68.20 from 65 innings, the fourth-highest with a 50-innings cut-off.

Given his phenomenal record in the format, his non-selection for the Indian Test side has often been a matter of intrigue. To be fair to the selectors, the decision had to do with Sarfraz’s run for India A, the “intermediate” first-class level between Indian domestic cricket and Test matches.

For India A, Sarfraz had made only 366 runs from 10 matches at 36.60 with a highest of 71 not out – a relative failure for a man with 13 hundreds in 54 innings in domestic cricket.

A dazzling hundred for India A in the first ‘Test’ helped Rajat Patidar leapfrog Sarfaraz and earn a call-up to the Indian Test squad when Virat Kohli opted out. This century will certainly help Sarfaraz stay in the hunt.

India A were 344-4 at the time of writing with Sarfaraz on 117 (off 100 balls) and Washington on 49.

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