Mumbai youngsters Sarfaraz and Armaan's paths to India U-19 team may be varied, but both are destined to be future stars
The story of Sarfaraz Khan and Armaan Jaffer's journey in cricket is akin to the one of the hare and the tortoise. Of course, with a twist in the tale.
If the former's rise has been rapid with a junior India cap in 2014 followed by a Mumbai berth and an IPL contract with the Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier this year, the latter's steps towards success have been slow but assured.
Their story may also be a repeat of how cricketers from the city Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane are eking it out at top level.
While Rohit is flamboyant strokemaker, deviating from the traditional, class-seeped Test culture of a Mumbai batsman, Rahane maintains a good share of the patient, steely approach the city batters are famous for.
Sarfaraz, 18, is an exciting batsman with innovative shots in his armoury, his flamboyant strokeplay caught the attention of Chris Gayle. Seventeen year-old Armaan, on the contrary, is what one calls a text-book cricketer.
These traits were evident on Monday, when the two were felicitated by their alma mater Rizvi Springfield High School for being picked in the India U-19 squad for the ICC U-19 World Cup to be played in Bangladesh next month.
Staying true to their personalities on the field, Sarfaraz made an Entry to the venue on a sports bike with former Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Kamran Khan. The sober and seemingly pensive Armaan walked in with his family.
The two have grown up playing here and are expected to uphold the rich cricketing legacy of the mega city. Though Sarfaraz decided to play for Uttar Pradesh, it wouldn't too wrong to say that his cricket will be total Mumbaiyya.
The two may not be best friends, well, not surprising given their contrasting nature, but are comfortable enough with each other to work up a chemistry on the field and be pals off it.
And this was evident on Monday. Sarfaraz was more vocal of the two, and could not hide his joy that his schoolmate will don the India jersey with him in the World Cup.
Sarfaraz says, "When we were playing our tri-series in Bengal and then Sri Lanka, Armaan was scoring big runs. He is a joy to watch when in form. I am happy he has made it to the Indian team.
"It will be good for us since he has been in good form. He gives me the confidence that he will stay with me till the end. He must carry on the same way," says the senior boy, who shifted base to Uttar Pradesh after playing for Mumbai for a year.
The reason Sarfaraz believes he can give advice to Armaan is that between the two, the former has done most things first. It was Sarfaraz who first sent record books into a tizzy with that epic 439 in Harris Shield in 2009. A year later, Armaan followed it up with a 498 in Giles Shield and then a 473 in Harris.
Sarfaraz made it to the India U-19 squad on the back of consistent performances during the 2014 U-19 World Cup in the UAE and then for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. Why, he was even bought by RCB for Rs 50 lakh in the IPL auction earlier this year.
Armaan's journey to junior India team, on the other hand, almost looks like a gatecrash. He fell off the junior selectors' radar after a poor show in the U-19 Challenger Trophy, managed just 75 runs in three games.
However, these failures couldn't keep Armaan down for too long. The stylish middle-order batsman then scored more than 1,000 runs in seven games including three consecutive double tons that forced the selectors to draft him into the team.
Despite their different styles, there are couple of things common between the two. Both have a cricketing background. While Sarfaraz is son of coach Naushad Khan, who has mentored players like Iqbal Abdullah and Kamran khan, Armaan is nephew of Test cricketer Wasim Jaffer.
They also have a common coach at school, Raju Pathak. The coach joked that when the two batted together, there is hardly any rotation of strike since both are eager to score heavily.
"It is not like that," Armaan responds. "But yes, whenever we bat, Sarfaraz scores from one end and I, from the other. We enjoy playing together."
Sarfaraz says: "I would tell him to take it easy and also to be patient, because I was impatient."
Off the field, however, Sarfaraz says there was this one instance when he would have preferred to 'rotate the strike'.
"There was a surprise test in school and I was completely unprepared. I tried to copy from Armaan but was caught by our principal," says Sarfaraz.
"We have always had a great chemistry."
And that's where the hope of a twist in the tale stems from. Despite the difference in pace of growth of these cricketers, they both are likely to go on and achieve higher goals. Yes, in this story it looks like both the hare and the tortoise are going to cross finish line together.
THEIR FAVOURITE SHOTS OF THE OTHER
Sarfaraz is very good with his sweep shot. It dominates the bowling, which makes things easier for me
—Armaan Jaffer
I love his straight drive, but we call his 'khandani shot' the flick shot. I'm looking to imbibe his patience
—Sarfaraz Khan
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