IND vs WI 2023: Sarfaraz Khan continues to be 'Ignored' by Indian Selectors
Sarfaraz Khan's name was not included in the squads announced for the West Indian Tour, the right-hand batter continues to be overlooked by Indian selectors despite scoring massively in the last couple of domestic seasons
FollowIn the recent announcement of Team India's Test and ODI squad for the West Indies tour, the BCCI made significant changes, particularly in the Test format. While Ajinkya Rahane was named the vice-captain, Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped following a poor performance in the World Test Championship final. Youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad were also included in the Test squad. However, one notable omission from the squad was Sarfaraz Khan.
Despite consistently impressive performances in the Ranji Trophy over the past few years, Sarfaraz has yet to receive a national call-up. Following his exclusion from the squad for the Windies tour.
The former Indian opener and Legend, Sunil Gavaskar and Aakash Chopra have criticised the lack of clarity from the board regarding the batsman's absence.
Chopra questions the reasons behind Sarfaraz's repeated exclusions and suggested that if the reasons are unrelated to his domestic performances, the board should make them public.
On his official YouTube channel, Chopra said, "What should Sarfaraz do? If you look at his numbers in the past 3 years, he's head and shoulders above the rest. He has performed everywhere. Even then, if he's not selected... what message does it send?"
"This is a valid question to ask. If there is some other reason, something that you and I are unaware of, make it public. Just say it if you didn't like a particular aspect of Sarfaraz's game, and that's why you are not considering him. But we don't know if there's a reason for this. I don't know if someone informed Sarfaraz about it." said Chopra
“If you don't value first-class runs, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth,” said the former India opener.
Alongside Sarfaraz, Abhimanyu Easwaran – another domestic star who had been performing impressively in the Ranji Trophy – was also snubbed from the Test squad.
