 "Ravichandran Ashwin slams Sarfaraz Khan's exclusion from India A red-ball squad: 'Very sad and feel sorry for him'")
It’s been a year since Sarfaraz Khan last represented the Indian team, with the middle-order batter from Mumbai not finding a place in the playing XI since the three-match Test series against New Zealand at home, in which he had scored a majestic 150 in Bengaluru.
Sarfaraz had been benched for the entire five-match Test series in Australia last winter and wasn’t even included in the squad for the five-match Test series in England as well as the two-match series against West Indies at home earlier this month. And on Tuesday, Sarfaraz wasn't deemed good enough to warrant a place in the India A squad either.
The national selectors unveiled two separate squads for upcoming red-ball matches against South Africa A in Bengaluru, both of which have the returning Rishabh Pant as captain with B Sai Sudharsan as his deputy. And despite being a consistent run-scorer in domestic cricket and losing nearly 17 kg recently after being instructed to work on his fitness, Sarfaraz remains sidelined for now.
Ravichandran Ashwin wasn’t one to mince words while giving Sarfaraz a harsh reality check following his latest snub. The Indian spin legend, who had retired from international cricket midway during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in December, felt that the door has been shut on Sarfaraz as far as his return to the Indian team is concerned, at least for now.
Ashwin highlights ‘confusion’ over Sarfaraz’s non-selection
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Ashwin highlighted the “lack of communication” while adding that the selection of the India A squad smacked of “confusion”.
“The problem is that your communication and selection should match. I remember Subramaniam Badrinath used to play for the India A team and was the captain as well for a long time, but did not get selected. The same happened to Manoj Tiwary. The communication that went through was that ‘we have seen enough of you, and now we want to take a look at fresh faces. So you won’t be playing for the India A team anymore, but if we need you in the Indian team, we will pick you’,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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More Shorts“But if you look at the current India A side, there is a liquadttle bit of confusion. If you say we have seen enough of Sarfaraz in India A, and only if we need him will we pick him in the Indian side, then that will be wrong. Because you picked Abhimanyu Easwaran, and he has played enough for India A. However, barring these cases, the rest are all futuristic - Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar,” he continued.
‘Such non-selection feels like someone’s decision’
Ashwin sympathised with Sarfaraz, especially considering the efforts that the latter had put into getting in shape for the rigours of international cricket. The 39-year-old added that he himself wouldn’t know what to tell Sarfaraz if he were a selector and was told to explain the 28-year-old’s absence from the India A squad.
“However, when I examine Sarfaraz’s non-selection, I don’t receive any explanation. I am very sad and feel sorry for him. Had I been the selector, what would I have called him up and said? He has reduced his weight, and he has been scoring runs; he also scored a century in his last Test series. And this sort of non-selection leads me to think that someone must have been thinking that we have seen enough of him, and we no longer want him, so we don’t want to go in that direction.
“If I were Sarfaraz Khan, that is what I would be thinking. He has been dropped from the India A side. It’s literally like the door has been shut. Where will he perform? Now, if he performs well in first-class cricket, they will say he is very good only for first-class cricket. So he won’t get picked for India A now. Where will he go and prove his credentials? Where will he show that he has improved? So, such non-selection feels like someone’s decision, whether from the management side or the selection side, that we are no longer looking at him,” he added.
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The two unofficial Tests against South Africa A get underway on 30 October and 6 November respectively, both matches taking place at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence.
While Sarfaraz has been ignored, opener Abhimanyu Easwaran – who is yet to make his India debut nearly three years since his maiden call-up – has been included along with the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, etc. with some of them included for only one match.
The India A squad for the second unofficial game, meanwhile, includes opener KL Rahul as well as senior pacer Mohammed Siraj.
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