The criticism of the Indian Test squad for the West Indies tour continues with a former opener fearing that Sarfaraz Khan may end up being remembered as a player who scored plenty of runs in domestic cricket but never got an opportunity to represent his country.
The Mumbai batter has been in sensational form in the past two-three seasons. During 2019-20, he clattered 928 runs at a mind-boggling average of 154 and then amassed 982 runs at 122.75 in next season.
More recently, he gave another reminder to the national selectors with 556 runs at 92.66 during the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy. Despite such impressive numbers, he’s yet to get India call-up.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra says it’s imperative that the proper reason behind Sarfaraz’s non-selection be communicated to the youngster failing which the sanctity of first-class cricket will be lost.
“Will Sarfraz be remembered as someone who scored a mountain of runs in First-Class cricket and still never got an opportunity to play for India?? I really hope that’s not the case,” Chopra tweeted on Sunday.
“And I hope that what more he needs to do to get picked is communicated to him. Otherwise…the sanctity of first-class cricket (the heart and soul of Indian cricket) will be lost,” he added.
Will Sarfraz be remembered as someone who scored a mountain of runs in First-Class cricket and still never got an opportunity to play for India?? I really hope that’s not the case. And I hope that what more he needs to do to get picked is communicated to him. Otherwise…the…— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 25, 2023
The 25-year-old Sarfaraz hasn’t said anything on the latest snub but he did share a story on his Instagram account showing highlights of his batting performances in red-ball cricket a day after the Test squad was named.
Even as he continues to wait for his India call-up, the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been called up to the Test squad for the first time in their career.
Another former India opener Wasim Jaffer had expressed his surprise at Gaikwad ‘jumping the queue’ and questioned the logic behind picking up as many as four openers for the two Tests against West Indies.
“What’s the need of four openers?” Jaffer posted on Twitter. “Instead they could have picked Sarfaraz as extra middle order bat to honour his consistent domestic performances.”
“(Abhimanyu) Easwaran and (Priyank) Panchal have also been doing hard yards in Ranji and India A, knocking on Test doors for a long time. Just because they don’t play IPL, is it a case of out of sight out of mind? How did Ruturaj jump the queue?” he added.
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