The BCCI announced the squad for the upcoming limited-overs series against New Zealand and the first two Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar series on Friday night. There are a few notable inclusions in the squad which have grabbed the headlines. However, the Indian cricket board had to face flak from the fans for overlooking Mumbai’s prolific run-scorer Sarfaraz Khan in the Test squad.
Sarfaraz has a mind-boggling average of 80.47 in first-class cricket and has emerged as one of the best batters of the Ranji Trophy in the last couple of years. Still, the Mumbai batter has not been able to secure a spot in the Indian Test side.
Here’s how the Twitterati reacted:
If Surya Kumar Yadav can get picked to the Indian Test squad based on his recent T20I performances, then WHY not Sarfaraz Khan on his recent first-class performances in domestic games?2019/20: 928 @ 154.662021/22: 982 @ 122.752022/23: 801* @ 89.00#INDvsAUS#INDvAUS— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) January 14, 2023
Two centuries in 3 matches this Ranji season (including 162 against TN todayFour in 2022Three (a double and triple) in 2020When will they pick Sarfaraz Khan (seen here with abbu Naushad)He must play in the Test series against Australia this year. He can pass the yo-yo test.. pic.twitter.com/qt9TtsMQbl— Vijay Lokapally ???????? (@vijaylokapally) January 4, 2023
Selecting Suryakumar Yadav ahead of Sarfaraz Khan in Tests is an insult to Ranji Trophy. That guy has been one of the most consistent run-getters in First Class cricket and deserved that call-up more than anyone.Baffling selection by this committee, yet again.
— Shivani Shukla (@iShivani_Shukla) January 13, 2023
Sarfaraz a victim of not having social media fan following like sanju. Poor guy has done more than enough to be in the squad. such a shame he is not included. #sarfarazkhan— Deepak Gupta (@DeepalGupta11) January 14, 2023
Ishan Kishan and SKY in squad,fair to say that Ranji performances have started to hold less value and public opinion has started to hold more sway.Ishan still understandable but SKY selection is baffling and won’t sent good signal to guys like Sarfaraz and Hanuma. https://t.co/q9W7Pk0tiV
— Akash Kumar Jha (@Akashkumarjha14) January 13, 2023
No Sarfaraz Khan in India’s Test squad is quite baffling. Not sure how Surya Kumar Yadav got in there ahead of him. Surely, you can’t pick a player in Test cricket on his T20 form. #INDvAUS— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) January 13, 2023
Suryakumar Yadav enters the Test squad. He is literally living the dream. At the same time though, feel bad for Sarfaraz Khan, whose First Class record is literally rivalling Don Bradman right now.#TeamIndia #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/kNRehE2Teh— Sohil Nikam (@sohilnikam) January 13, 2023
Sarfaraz Khan should have been selected in the test team. It’s unfair to him. @BCCI pic.twitter.com/0eNDp43pEZ— ANSHUMAN???? (@AvengerReturns) January 14, 2023
And with this, Sarfaraz Khan was ignored once again, till when will BCCI ignore it? Now Sarfaraz Khan should break through his performance instead of knocking the door of BCCI to get into the team. One day will come and Sarfaraz will break the door and play in Team India.@BCCI pic.twitter.com/fYTIEHb3BD— Alim Ghazi (@007AlimGhazi) January 14, 2023
The fact is Sarfaraz Khan has indeed scored heavily in the domestic circuit. He had smashed 982 runs at an astonishing average of 122.75 in the 2021-22 season of first-class cricket. Moreover, he has already scored 801 runs at a healthy average of 89 in the current season.
It remains to be seen when Sarfaraz will get on the radar of the national selectors. While Sarfaraz was ignored by the national selectors, Prithvi Shaw was awarded for his recent string of exceptional performances in Ranji Trophy.
Shaw has been included in the T20I squad for the New Zealand series. India will play three ODIs and three T20Is against New Zealand in January.
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