Sarfaraz Khan continues to struggle in Ranji Trophy 2025-26: Stats
What's the story
Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan was once again dismissed cheaply on Day 1 of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy Round 4 clash against Himachal Pradesh. The match being held at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC, Mumbai, saw Sarfaraz get dismissed for a paltry score of 16 from 57 balls. Vaibhav Arora dismissed the batter in the 27th over with Mumbai getting reduced to 73/4. Here we decode Sarfaraz's stats in the ongoing Ranji season.
Stats
An average of 22.20 in ongoing Ranji season
Sarfaraz started his Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season with scores worth 42 and 32 against J&K in Srinagar. Thereafter, in the lone outing against Chhattisgrah, he perished for 1 run. In Round three, he bagged 15 and 5* against Rajasthan in Jaipur. And now, he fell for a score of 16. He faced 57 balls and hit 2 fours. Across four matches (6 innings), Sarfaraz owns 111 runs at an average of 22.20.
Information
An average of over 60 in First-Class cricket
Playing his 59th First-Class match, Sarfaraz owns 4,796 runs from 89 innings at an average of 62-plus, as per ESPNcricinfo. He owns 16 tons and 15 fifties. 371 of his FC runs have come for India in Test cricket.
Snub
Sarfaraz was not picked for two unofficial Tests against SA-A
Sarfaraz was also selected for the India A team for the England tour, where he scored 92 runs. He then shed 17kg over the summer and scored tons in the pre-domestic-season Buchi Babu tournament. However, an injury kept him out of Duleep Trophy and West Indies Test series at home. Despite passing a fitness test later on, Sarfaraz was not picked for the two-match India A series against South Africa A.
Snub
Sarfaraz scored twin fifties on Test debut against England
Sarfaraz, who made his Test debut against England, has played six matches for India. He scored 371 runs in total, including a century in his last series against New Zealand in November 2024. However, his form dipped in the last two matches where he managed just 21 runs. Despite this setback, Sarfaraz was picked for the Australian tour. However, he wasn't involved in any of the matches.
Information
Sarfaraz is currently out of Team India's radar
Sarfaraz is currently out of Team India's radar. And his performance in this Ranji Trophy season isn't helping him either. He needs to change his fortunes and score a truckload of runs to fight his way back into the Indian team which has options aplenty.
Backing
Shardul defends Sarfaraz; Ashwin hits out at selectors
Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur backed Sarfaraz last month, saying he doesn't need exposure from India A matches to make a case for the national Test team. Thakur stressed on Sarfaraz's impressive domestic record and ability to perform under pressure as evidence of his readiness. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin also expressed his disappointment over the exclusion of Sarfaraz from the India A squad. Ashwin questioned the selectors' reasoning behind their choice and suggested that this could be a major setback for Sarfaraz's chances of returning to the national team.