Sarfaraz Khan: Seeing father's dream through blood-rushed eyes

"When you really desire something from the heart and soul, all the universe conspires you to achieve it", Paulo Coelho wrote on an 80 GSM paper and the great Shah Rukh Khan recited the same on 70 mm screen to reassert that ‘Anything can happen.’

The same goes for a boy from Kurla who dreamt big, big enough to wink at the universe, summon it and demand a silver lining to what had become a purposeless grind at the age of 26. Yeah, I know, you may say that he had a purpose of playing for India. Isn’t that irony in itself? 

Chimera. Yeah…Chimera. That’s what Sarfaraz was chasing even after he broke the great Sachin Tendulkar’s record by scoring 439 runs, at the age of 12, in a Harris Shield match back in 2009. Though he created headlines the overachieving attitude gave him forehead lines as well down the years. 

Every Bollywood movie we all grew up watching was filled with mother-son sentiment. A son can go to any extent to fulfil his mother’s dream and vice-versa. Let us just twist the tale a little bit. 

How far can a father go for his son? Become prodigal! Or let’s say could be called ‘lunatic’ by society! Naushad Khan was up for anything to turn his son’s designation from just a cricketer to ‘Indian Cricketer.’

Fame comes with a price

Things worsened for the father-son duo when a school accused Sarfaraz of duping his actual age of 13 and alleging he was much older. The bone age assessment further dented their hopes as it extended his age to 15. Thanks to the advanced examination, the age was restored to 13, but leaving the wet behind ears to consult a psychologist post the trauma to grapple with. 

Fast forward to 2016-17. His under-19 shenanigans were noticed by the Indian Premier League franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore. They secured his rights for 50 Lakh rupees.

Indeed…Fame comes with a price

Sarfaraz became India’s top run-getter scoring 355 runs, enough for a flight to Bangalore and a stay in Ritz Carlton on the Residency Road. The same year saw him getting picked and dropped, dicey, is it?

Picked by RCB and dropped by the Mumbai team for making derogatory remarks towards the selectors. But the 17-year-old had an outright blasphemous way to reply to the authoritarian conduct. He notched up a match-winning 21-ball 45 for RCB.

Virat Kohli bowed down to the walking Sarfaraz Khan, who had just snatched a beer from the bartender, a steak from a fork and a marsupium from a Kangaroo, as he took the likes of Shane Watson and James Faulkner to the cleaners with his innings.

Cricket requires fitness as much as talent

That’s what became the biggest hurdle in front of a bulldozing talent. He became prone to injuries and lost shape as well as his place in RCB’s playing XI. With no contracts at his disposal, Sarfaraz’s vision was stuck on Television while sitting at home. 

But the 20-year-old who was sidelined was just writing a new chapter to his already outcast book. The stage changed, the format changed and the colour of the ball too. He looked back towards the red ball career. In January 2020, Sarfaraz notched up his maiden Ranji Trophy triple century, joining Mumbai's elite alongside legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Rohit Sharma.

In the 2021/22 season, Sarfaraz emerged as the top run-scorer of the tournament, amassing 982 runs at an impressive average of 122.75. His remarkable performance set him apart from the rest, with the second-highest scorer trailing by a significant margin of 324 runs. He had caught the attention of the audience, the screen – he was sure, the screen was never coming down so soon.

Ready to pull off the showman spectacle, he was summoned by the BCCI just before the Vizag Test against England. 

But his crowning was meant to be In Rajkot. The land of Raja’s (Kings). While he was being inducted into the Indian squad on February 15, his father Naushad shed tears of joy. He might have reminisced about the moments of him holding the guard and answering askers about the day his son would wear the blue cap. 

Reminds me of a dialogue from the movie Rocky, 

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

Ah… Let’s keep this cinematic drama aside for a while. But the Big man, Naushad Khan had other plans to state something to all the twisted microphone holders, to all the questions over his son’s conduct, all through his life. The Black pullover he chose to wear on his son’s ‘Red Letter Day’ read in golden words…

Cricket is Everyone’s Game

Also read: Sarfaraz Khan's father moved to tears as son makes India debut