New Delhi: Former India wicketkeeper-batter and ex-member of the senior selection committee Saba Karim feels young batters Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar are ready to be a part of India Test team according to him.
Both Sarfaraz and Patidar have had stellar run of form in last few months and are currently in India A squad for three-match four-day games against New Zealand A. In the first match at Bengaluru from September 1-4, Patidar slammed 176 while Sarfaraz made 36 in the drawn affair.
“It’ll be a toss-up between Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar. Sarfaraz Khan in the past two seasons has been in great form. He’s stacked up runs, not only hundreds but also double hundreds. On the other hand, Rajat Patidar has excellent timing, his ball sense is very good,” said Karim on ‘Sports Over The Top’ show on Sports18.
Patidar made heads turn in May when he slammed a sensational 112 not out off 54 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2022 eliminator at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. He followed it up with 58 against Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2.
After scores of 85 and 79 in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final and semi-final against Punjab and Bengal respectively, Patidar made 122 and 30 not out to give Madhya Pradesh their first-ever Ranji Trophy title with a six-wicket win over Mumbai in Bengaluru.
Sarfaraz, on the other hand, was named Player of the Series in the 2021/22 Ranji Trophy for scoring 982 runs from nine innings at an average of 122.75, slammed four hundreds and two fifties with a highest score of 275. He had also made a stunning 134 in the final against Madhya Pradesh. Sarfaraz was also a part of India A’s series in South Africa last year.
“He’s (Patidar) been among runs, he’s instrumental in helping Madhya Pradesh win the Ranji trophy title. He’s also a very good white ball player. But more importantly, both Sarfaraz and Rajat Patidar if you’re talking about Test matches, then I think both these young cricketers are ready to step into the big shoes of the current Indian batting line-up,” concluded Karim.
–IANS