Sarfaraz Khan, whose maiden triple century helped Mumbai take the first-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh, said that he could change the course of the game. Despite suffering from fever, he scored an unbeaten 301, which helped Mumbai to go past Uttar Pradesh’s first-innings huge score of 625/8 declared and take three points on the last day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game as well.

“I wasn’t going to come out to bat. I wasn’t well for the last two-three days. But I felt that I was the kind of player who could change the game if I remained in the middle. So I came out and played for the team,” Sarfaraz said.

His triple century is only the third score by a first-class batsman batting at number 6 in first-class cricket, and the second after Karun Nair at number 6 in Ranji Trophy history also. Before Sarfaraz Khan, it was Rohit Sharma who did this.

“I didn’t think I would be able to go all the way. When I got to 250, I felt I should declare (retire), but the team backed me a lot,” said the 22-year-old, who returned to Mumbai after playing in the Uttar Pradesh squad for three seasons earlier.

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According to Sarfaraz Khan, the pace of his innings slowed after he reached the 200-run mark.

“After I got to 200, I slowed down. I did not hit a boundary for an hour until tea after I went past 200, my aim was that we had to go past 625,” he said. “I knew that Shams (Mulani) is a player who gets fours easily.”

On the other hand, Mumbai captain Aditya Tare too said Sarfaraz has worked on his batting.

“He (Sarfaraz) always had talent. He works really hard on his batting. He is always practising and prepares himself well. He is a cricketer who improves,” Tare said. “Sarfaraz can bat at number 5 or 6 and win matches, he has that quality.”