Sarfaraz Khan might feel hard done as another Test squad announced he couldn’t find himself on the list. One of the most consistent batters in first-class cricket for India for the last three-four years, Sarfaraz continues to pile on runs in red-ball cricket but without much luck as far as the national selection is concerned. Literally a day after the squad announcement, Sarfaraz smashed a 110-ball 96 playing for India A against England Lions.
India A 462/8 against the England Lions in a drawn match as the likes of Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel, all gave a good account of themselves. Patidar headlined the batting performance with a century while Sarfaraz was the second-highest run-getter with a 96 at a strike rate of 86 while Bharat scored a 69-ball 64. Dhruv Jurel, the latest Indian Test cricket scored a 38-ball 50 as the match ended in a draw.
Sarfaraz, who averages 69 in first-class cricket, will hope to get selectors’ attention towards himself with another splendid season because the previous seasons despite having averages of 92, 122 and 81 in the last three Ranji trophy editions have clearly not been enough, with reports suggesting that fitness might be an issue.
The BCCI and the selectors have faced criticism for ignoring Sarfaraz the longest and no one knows how long he might have to wait for the call-up as when he is not getting called up in the squad even in home series, he might have to wait for a bit more. The rest of the squad remained the same with the expected inclusions of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, apart from Jurel’s maiden call-up.
India’s Test squad for first two matches against England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan