Sarfaraz Khan hammered 14 sixes and 9 fours in his 157 and added 93 runs with brother Musheer.
He carried the same form into the 50-over domestic competition, having scored 55 against Uttarakhand and 157 against Goa in the most recent game. Sarfaraz batted for 75 balls, hitting 14 sixes and 9 fours.
He also added 93 runs for the third wicket with brother Musheer Khan, who made 60 with 5 fours and 2 sixes as Mumbai posted 444/8 in 50 overs. While Abhinav Tejrana made 100 and Lalit Yadav made 60, Goa could muster 357/9 in 50 overs and lost the game by 87 runs.
After the match, Sarfaraz Khan talked about batting with his brother Musheer and the dream that they both score centuries in the same game and raise the bat together.
“It’s a dream for both of us to score centuries in a match and raise the bat together. That’s something we really want to do,” Sarfaraz told Sportstar.
Sarfaraz and Musheer thought that today was the day when their dream would come true, but that didn’t happen, as Musheer fell for 60.
“We thought about scoring centuries in the Ranji Trophy, but that did not happen. Today, I wanted him to score a hundred too. It would have happened since there was a lot of time. But it's alright; dreams don’t come true so easily. It takes time, and that’s the fun bit,” he added.
Sarfaraz Khan had hit a slump in the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai, but has had amazing outings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and now in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Musheer, too, has been a consistent performer.
“We know each other very well. Our understanding of the game is the same, and so is the technique. When we are in the middle, we give advice to each other in terms of how to handle a bowler or how to pace the innings. Musheer always tells me one thing or the other. At times, I get angry, but I never take his suggestions lightly,” Sarfaraz said.
While he isn't thinking too far ahead and is taking each game as it comes, Sarfaraz was pleased to have followed his plans flawlessly, hitting more than 100 runs against spinners and helping Mumbai to a massive total.
“I know this ground very well. So, I knew that teams can chase down totals here, and even Goa came quite close. They are a good team, having won their first three games. So for me, the target was to ensure that we scored as many runs as possible and then try and defend it. Staying at the top was important, and we managed to do that,” Sarfaraz Khan stated.
Mumbai will next face Maharashtra on January 3, Himachal Pradesh on January 6, and Punjab on January 8 in the next encounters in the Vijay Hazare Trophy group stage games.
(Sportstar inputs)