Some players don’t fail because they lack talent. They fail because the system never quite knows what to do with them.
Sarfaraz Khan is one of those cricketers Indian fans argue about every season — and not without reason. Since 2019, he has piled up mountainous Ranji Trophy numbers: seasons averaging over 90, double hundreds scored with alarming regularity, and an ability to dominate bowling attacks across conditions.
In red-ball cricket, his name sits comfortably among the most consistent run-makers in the country. Yet, switch to the IPL, and the story flips.
Across franchises and seasons, Sarfaraz has largely been reduced to bit-part roles — shuffled between positions, in and out of the XI, expected to deliver instant impact in formats and situations that never matched his strengths.
One game he’s asked to anchor. The next, to slog from ball one. More often than not, he’s watching from the bench while the debate around him grows louder.
Is he a middle-order stabiliser?
A spin-basher?
A Test specialist trapped in a T20 world?
No franchise has ever answered that clearly.
Talent rarely disappears. It usually just waits for clarity.
Now imagine him walking into Chennai Super Kings — a team that has built its reputation by doing the unfashionable thing: trusting numbers over noise, backing players beyond short-term failures, and valuing role clarity over raw hype.
This is the same environment that has turned discarded players into match-winners and extended careers others had quietly written off.
Suddenly, the question isn’t “Is Sarfaraz good enough?”
The domestic record answered that long ago.
It’s “Has he finally landed in the right place?”