Dad Naushad Khan leaves for Bangalore to greet ton-up Sarfaraz

Naushad Khan and his son Sarfaraz Khan in 2009. PIC/NIMESH DAVE

MUMBAI'S in-form batsman Sarfaraz Khan's father Naushad, who is also his coach, preferred to watch the first two days of the Mumbai versus Madhya Pradesh Ranji Trophy final on television in the comfort of his Kurla home in Mumbai.

However, he decided to travel to Bangalore on Thursday evening to meet his son and congratulate him on his brilliant 134 which helped Mumbai post 374 in their first innings.

"I am feeling very good after watching Sarfaraz score a hundred. Sarfaraz ko gale milne ka man kar raha hai [I want to hug him]. I did not want to disturb him by being at the ground. But he has played a brilliant knock," Naushad told mid-day.com on Thursday evening just before his flight took off for the Garden City.

The attacking batsman, who was unbeaten on 40 on Wednesday, received special advice from dad Naushad before his impact ton. "I just told Sarfaraz to have patience and not to succumb to their [MP] trap. In the semis [against Uttar Pradesh] he had been trapped while playing the reverse sweep on 40. And before that, he got out on 153 [against Uttarakhand in the quarter-finals] while playing a sweep shot," revealed Naushad.