Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar questioned the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel for dropping Sarfaraz Khan from the upcoming five-match Test tour to England. The right-hander was not given his opportunity on the Australian tour and he has been shown the exit door by the selectors without getting a chance. 

Khan had broken into India’s Test team after scoring a bucket load of runs in the domestic circuit. The youngster has scored 371 runs in six Test matches at an average of 37.1. The Mumbai batter played his last Test against New Zealand but returned with scores of 0 and 1 on a spin-friendly pitch at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Sanjay Manjrekar wrote in his column for Hindustan Times, “Take the example of Sarfraz Khan. Three fifties and a 150 at home in four Tests and failures in only four innings after that and Sarfaraz does not get a single game in Australia. So, this non-selection is not about performance, it’s about someone important in the leadership group thinking Sarfaraz will not get runs in England and Australia, and Karun Nair will. For the England tour too, he has been left out despite his performances in recent times outweighing Karun Nair’s completely.”

Manjrekar slammed the management for pre-assuming player’s success or failure chances while taking into account the playing conditions.

“Under Gambhir’s stewardship and with Rohit not there anymore, I see a tendency in this management to pre-empt performances of individuals while making selections. As in, the dominating thought here is to apply their own view of the likely success and failure of players depending on conditions and opposition.”

The opening Test match between India and England will be played at Leeds, Headingley, from June 20 onwards.