Two days ago when Virat Kohli announced he was not going to feature for India in the first two Tests vs England, he was replaced by Rajat Patidar. Sarfaraz Khan, who recently struck 55 and 96 vs England Lions as part of India A did not find a place in the team. He does not have a huge fan base but a large section of the Team India enthusiasts feel that he is being kept unjustifiably out of the team. What is troubling some fans is that there is no explanation why Sarfaraz is being kept away from the national team despite flurry of performances.
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Sarfaraz has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit, making heaps of runs season after season in Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments. But the national cap is hard to come by. Sarfaraz was not picked for the two-match Test series in South Africa and has not been preferred to replace Kohli in the first two Tests. At the same time, Dhruv Jurel, who has had a decent show in domestic cricket has received a call up for the Tests vs England.
Irfan Pathan, former India bowler, is not liking what he is seeing at the moment. He feels that Sarfaraz deserves an answer to this constant snub. Irfan, on Wednesday, shared his stats from the first-class cricket and wrote: “If you are him and not getting selected for test cricket, what are you thinking”. Irfan did not name Sarfaraz in his tweet on X but the numbers are of him only. In 44 first-class matches, Sarfaraz has scored 3751 runs at an average of 68.20 and strike rate of 69.59. Irfan had also shared the same numbers.
If you are him and not getting selected for test cricket, what are you thinking??? pic.twitter.com/uVzUfvNPTx
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 24, 2024
Not to forget, Sarfaraz also has 13 hundreds and 11 fifties to his name. It is also true that the batter has had a poor show in IPL so far, which could be a big reason why he has got snub for the selectors over the years.
There are many domestic giants in the past who either never got to play for India or did not get a long run with the team. These players include Amol Majumdar, Subramaniam Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer. One can say that Jaffer is an exception as he played cricket for India for some time but even after Virender Sehwag replaced him in the Tests, Jaffer continues to make heaps of runs in domestic cricket but never got the ticket back into the Test side. Hopefully, Sarfaraz’s story will not meet the same fate.