T20 Mumbai League | 'Will use IPL experience to help Aakash Tigers do well': Sarfaraz

Aakash Tigers captains Humaira Kazi (women) and Sarfaraz Khan (men) at the team’s jersey launch on Friday. Pic/Ashish Raje

India Test batter Sarfaraz Khan, who made his IPL comeback after a gap of two years, has revealed that he worked extremely hard to improve his strike rate this season. Sarfaraz, 28, scored 161 runs in eight IPL-19 games for Chennai Super Kings at a strike rate of 169.47. In the 2023 IPL, he had scored 53 runs in four games at a strike rate of just 85.48.

"When I was not in the IPL for those two years, I kept thinking why I couldn't make it and started practising harder on aspects that I felt needed improvement. My main target was to improve my strike rate, because I believe I missed out on those two years due to [low] strike rate and some fitness issues. So, I worked hard and got good results in my fielding, fitness and batting," Sarfaraz told mid-day on the sidelines of the jersey launch of T20 Mumbai League (TML) team Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs at Wankhede on Friday.

The Mumbai batter has represented the country in six Tests, scoring 371 runs. When asked how satisfied he is with his recent IPL performance, Sarfaraz said: "I will never be satisfied in cricket. Every day you have to wake up in the morning and do the hard work. Every day you need to learn something new."

Sarfaraz gave credit to CSK's five-time IPL-winning captain MS Dhoni for guiding youngsters. "The doors to Mahi bhai's room are always open, so we approach him to discuss things and to learn from him. He keeps things simple and that has taught me so much," Sarfaraz said, adding that he's looking forward to applying his IPL learnings at the TML, beginning on June 1.

"I hope to share all that I've learnt from my IPL experience to help my team win," Sarfaraz signed off.

169.47
Sarfaraz Khan's strike rate for CSK in the IPL this season