Sarfaraz Khan made his much-awaited Test debut earlier this year during the England series at home. He justified the hype by hitting 200 runs across five innings including three half-centuries while averaging 50 and scoring at a strike-rate of 79.36. While the Test call-up and subsequent debut was much-deserved, it did come when India were missing a few of their first-choice players in Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant meaning their return could potentially result Sarfaraz losing his spot in the playing XI.
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And so will be the case for the upcoming Bangladesh Test series that starts from September 19. Though Sarfaraz has kept his place in the squad to be led by Rohit Sharma, he’s unlikely to feature in the opening Test in Chennai with first-choice stars including Kohli, Rahul and Pant set to return.
The fact that the 26-year-old has been named in India B squad for the Duleep Trophy second round fixtures all but confirms he won’t be part of the playing XI for the first Test against Bangladesh. The second-round matches are slated to end on September 15 – three days before the start of the series. Barring Sarfaraz, the other India Test players, who played in the Duleep Trophy first round matches, will be leaving for Chennai.
Former India opener and member of 1983 ODI World Cup winning team Kris Srikkanth says he feels for Sarfaraz but it’s something that happens in cricket and cited the example of how Dhruv Jurel will have to sit out since a fit-again Pant is now available.
“I feel bad for Sarfaraz Khan, even if you play well, sometimes some big player comes in after an injury, you lose your place – see Rishabh Pant comes in and Jurel has to go out,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel while speaking to his son Anirudha who represented Chennai Super Kings in IPL.
Srikkanth explained why India will prefer Rahul given the upcoming series including the tour of Australia.
“KL Rahul, at the end of the day, in the back of the mind you should keep the Australia series in mind, New Zealand series is next – so KL Rahul is the man – KL Rahul Rolls Royce has done very well in Australia,” he said.
“Difficult bowling – KL Rahul, Great Bowling – KL Rahul – you have no body else – Classy Rolls Royce Rahul,” he added.
Anirudh agreed with Kris and added, “I think KL Rahul has played quality Test innings in South Africa and Australia. And leading up to Australia tour (Rahul’s form) is going to be crucial I feel and it’s going to probably one of the greatest Test series of our time.”
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