Just a few days back the squad was announced for the West Indies tour and in that list Sarfaraz Khan name was missing. This takes into the storm that a player who performed brilliantly in the domestic circuit has been neglected again. Former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar seems to be heavily angry with the non selection of the Indian batter.
Also Sarfaraz shows his sadness through his instagram story. He was performing brilliantly in the domestic and scored. A cumulative score of 2566 runs in the last three seasons of Ranji Trophy drew the attention of many senior players and was expected to be selected in the Test. In 2019-20 he scored 928 runs, in 2021-22 he made 982 runs and in 2022-23 he made 656 runs. Has an average close to 80.
A BCCI official said in his statement, “The angry reactions are understandable but I can tell you with some degree of certainty that the reason behind Sarfaraz getting ignored time and again is not just cricketing one. There are multiple reasons for which he hasn’t been considered. Are the selectors fools to not consider a player who has not scored 900 plus runs in successive seasons? One of the reasons is his fitness which isn’t exactly of international standard.”
The Official also stated that his behaviour is also one of the reasons behind his exclusion he told, “His conduct on and off the field hasn’t exactly been top notch . Certain things said, certain gestures made and some incidents have been taken note of. A bit more disciplined approach would only do him a world of good. Hopefully Sarfaraz along with his father and coach Naushad Khan will work on those aspects.”
A BCCI official also dismissed his rejection on the basis of poor IPL performance, he added, “That’s a perception built by the media. Do you think there could be any cricketing reasons? When Mayank Agarwal broke into the Indian Test team, he scored 1000 first class runs in just one month. Did MSK Prasad’s committee check his IPL credentials? Ditto for Hanuma Vihari who came through domestic and A team ranks. If their IPL and white ball record wasn’t checked then, why would SS Das’s committee reinvent the wheel now? Simple the reason is not the cricketing one.”