Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin questioned the selectors’ decision not to include Sarfaraz Khan in the India A squad for two four-day matches against South Africa A. Ashwin said he is feeling sorry for Sarfaraz Khan as the youngster has been scoring a truckload of runs.
Khan has scored 371 runs in six Test matches at an average of 37.10. The right-hander was included in India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia but didn’t get a chance in the playing XI.
Subsequently, the Mumbai batter was overlooked for the five-match Test series against England. The right-hander had scored a fine knock of 150 runs against New Zealand in 2024. Furthermore, Khan has lost weight to get fitter and thus his exclusion is surprising.
“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.
He added: “But if you look at the current India A side, there is a little 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.”
Ashwin highlighted that selectors might not have had any reason to drop Sarfaraz Khan, as he has been doing everything right to be picked in 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.”
India A vs South Africa A series schedule:
1st Four-day match – October 30 to November 2 – Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru
2nd Four-day match – November 6 to November 9 – Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru
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