MUMBAI: Much before he took the cricketing world by storm by smashing the best bowlers in the world for a barrage of sixes while batting for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, Sarfaraz Khan, the ‘run machine’ of domestic cricket, was left impressed by the first glimpse of Vaibhav Sooryvanshi. This was in January 2024, when the explosive batter, now 15, made his debut for Bihar against a strong Mumbai team at the age of 12 years and 284 days, becoming the youngest Indian first-class debutant in decades, in the 2024-25 season’s opening Ranji Trophy match.Sooryavanshi was out for 19 & 12, with Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian dismissing him, as Bihar went down by an innings & 51 runs, but Sarfaraz liked what he saw of the batter, who would go on to smash Chris Gayle‘s record of 59 sixes in an IPL season in 2026. “He’s a very good friend of mine and we stay in touch. He’s doing really well. I first saw him during his Ranji Trophy debut against Mumbai. Even then, I could see he had great skill. He can play both red-ball and white-ball cricket very well,” Sarfaraz told reporters on Friday at the jersey launch of the Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs for Season 4 the T20 Mumbai League, which is set to kick off at the Wankhede Stadium from Monday. Apart from Sarfaraz Khan, Aakash Tigers’ Women’s team captain Humaira Kazi, and mentors Praveen Amre and Laya Fran Francis were present on the occasion.Sarfaraz felt that it was “mindset” that made Sooryavanshi different from the others. “His mindset and preparation are different. Anyone can succeed if they work hard enough. He has worked extremely hard on his game,” said the 28-year-old Mumbaikar.Making an IPL comeback on the basis of an excellent performance for Mumbai in the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (329 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 203.08 and an average of 65.80 while batting at No 3) and then the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Sarfaraz was picked up by the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2026 auction for Rs 75 lakh. He scored 161 runs in eight matches@23.00, at a strike rate of 169.47, with one fifty in the season. Showcasing his vastly-improved fitness and fielding skills, the middle-order batter also took some great catches. “I enjoy working hard. I don’t like sitting idle. I felt I needed to improve my white-ball game, so I worked on it and also focused on my fitness. The results have been positive. You can never be fully satisfied in cricket. The biggest challenge for me was making a comeback. I needed to improve my strike rate and fitness. That’s one reason I was out of the IPL for two years. I worked hard on fitness, fielding, and batting, and I got good results. I’ll continue to improve,” Sarfaraz asserted.“For the last three years, I’ve been trying to improve continuously. Every season I work on something new so that selectors can see growth in my game. My focus is always on upgrading my game every season,” he added.Mid-IPL season, Sarfaraz lost his place in the CSK XI to Gujarat’s hard-hitting batter Urvil Patel. “First of all, I feel very lucky to have been part of CSK. I spent two months there and learned a lot. We used to sit together, discuss cricket, and always try to learn new things. One thing I learned is to keep things simple,” Sarfaraz, who will lead the Aakash Tigers in Season 4 of T20 Mumbai League, said.On Thursday, Mumbai’s veteran middle-order batter Siddhesh Lad had created a flutter by stating that IPL performances were now being given more importance for India selection. Sarfaraz had a different take on the issue. “Whether it’s the IPL or any other tournament, your job is to perform. Selectors will do their job; players have to focus on theirs,” he felt.With the monsoon set to arrive, rain could affect the first half of the T20 Mumbai League. Amre felt that the players would adapt to the wickets, which, as Lad said the other day, may be a bit damp and not too batting-friendly, but Amre said, “Mumbai’s cricketers are used to playing in all kinds of conditions and wickets, so I think they’ll adapt well.”
