 "Sarfaraz Khan has scored a century and three fifties in the six Tests that he has played for India so far. Reuters")
There were quite a few surprises in store when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee unveiled India’s squad for the upcoming Test series against England. While the selectors decided to include some fresh faces including Sai Sudharsan and hand Karun Nair a recall after eight years, the absence of some individuals raised eyebrows.
Among the players who have been overlooked for the five-match Test series against England that gets underway four days from now is middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan, a domestic run-machine who already has a majestic 150 along with three half-centuries to his name in six Test appearances.
More recently, Sarfaraz struck 92 for India A in their first unofficial Test against England Lions before smashing a 76-ball 101 in the intra-squad warm-up match against the Shubman Gill-led Indian team that will be facing Ben Stokes’ Englishmen.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra is among those who sympathise with Sarfaraz and feel the Mumbaikar has the right to feel bad about not getting chances despite making the most of whatever opportunities he’s getting at the moment.
“Sarfaraz Khan hasn’t done anything wrong thus far. In fact, he hasn’t done anything wrong till now. The one match he played, he scored 90-plus runs. He couldn’t score a hundred, but he scored runs. After that, you didn’t play him in the next match, and he is not part of the Test team,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“He hasn’t failed in England, Australia and South Africa thus far, but you haven’t given him a chance. It is not a good story. I can understand if you don’t have confidence in his technique or playing style, that he might not be able to score runs there, then you have to take a call. Then don’t send him with India A also. because you have a pre-conceived notion,” he added.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsChopra questions the point of playing Sarfaraz in India A games
Chopra also mentioned the fact that Sarfaraz did not get a single opportunity across five Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia despite his 150 against the Black Caps at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium before the tour. He added that while Sarfaraz did fail in the subsequent Tests against New Zealand – in Pune and Mumbai – hardly any of the other batters stepped up either.
“If you think he can make runs, and that’s why he has been picked for the India A squad, then play him in the India Test team too. What wrong has he done. He made a ton in Bengaluru. Then he failed in two matches, but no one else scored in those matches. He did not even play a single match in Australia, in fact he was not even part of the conversation.
“So, in such a scenario, one might think that something wrong is happening with him. What has he done wrong? Maybe, absolutely nothing. But he is not getting a place in the XI. in fact he is not in the scheme of things, which is a little sad, if your name is Sarfaraz Khan,” Chopra added.
The Indian team management and selectors have instead backed Nair, who had been dropped from the Test team just months after becoming only the second Indian to score a Test triple century, to shine in the middle-order in the upcoming Test series.