New Delhi: Team India was announced on Friday (June 23) for the ODI and Test series against West Indies. In both the series, Team India will be in the hands of Rohit Sharma. India has to play two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is in the West Indies tour. The squad for the T20 series will be announced later.
Apart from veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, most of the senior players have been included in the Indian squad for the Test series. New players like Yashshwi Jaiswal and Rituraj Gaikwad have also found place in the Test squad, but one of Mumbai’s star batsmen, who has excelled in domestic cricket, has been completely ignored by the selectors.
Here we are talking about Mumbai’s wicket keeper batsman Sarfraz Khan. 25-year-old Sarfaraz Khan has been making steady runs in domestic cricket. Sarfaraz scored a lot of runs in the previous Ranji season. However, it is a surprise that he will not be selected in the Test team. At the same time, the attitude of the selectors also feels suspicious.
If Rituraj Gaikwad can get a place in the Test team based on his ODI and T20 performances then Sarfraz Khan should also get a chance based on his performance in domestic cricket. Because Rituraj’s first class average is around 42 and compared to that Sarfaraz averages double. Also, Rituraj Gaikwad has not played as many matches as Sarfraz.
Talking about Sarfraz Khan’s performances, he has so far scored 3505 runs in 37 first class matches, including 13 centuries and 9 half-centuries. Sarfaraz Khan’s top score is 301 not out and averages around 80 (79.65).
Surprisingly, Sarfraz has averaged over 100 in the last three Ranji Trophy seasons. In such a situation, fans are saddened by his not being selected in the Test team. Let us tell you that Sarfraz plays in the middle order for Mumbai in first class cricket and can prove to be a better option for Team India.
Argument that Sarfaraz is not getting a place in the team due to fitness
Arguments for not casting Sarfraz Khan are that his fitness is not up to par and he is too fat. If this is the cause then it doesn’t seem to have any effect on performance. Even the great batsman Sunil Gavaskar has said that if you (selectors) want a slim-looking boy, you should look for a model. Because Sarfaraz Khan is continuously scoring runs despite being overweight.
After not being selected, Sarfraz posted the post
The young cricketer shared a post on social media after the team selection news for West Indies broke and it was announced that Sarfraz was not selected. In a post shared by Sarfaraz, he shared a picture of net practice and captioned it ‘One Love’, the title track from the film Lakshya is playing in the background along with the post. By doing this, Sarfaraz has once again tried to say that he will not give up and will continue to work hard.