'It’s very easy to say but...’: Ajinkya Rahane speaks on Sarfaraz Khan’s frustration after being ignored by national selectors despite consistent performances

Indian veteran cricket Ajinkya Rahane, who is also Sarfaraz Khan's Ranji teammate, advised him not to get distracted and frustrated as he was omitted from India A's 15-member squad for the two-match unofficial Test series against South Africa A, which is scheduled to start from October 30.

Rahane's advice to Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz, who was part of India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 squad and benched for the whole five-Test match series, was unable to make a cut in Shubman Gill-led India's squad for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 despite a decent record in the longest format of the game. Rahane, who scored 151 runs in his recent Ranji outing, agreed that being ignored by the selectors despite performance is a tough and challenging phase and advised Sarafaz to focus on things that he can control.

“The only thing I can tell him is don’t get distracted and frustrated. It’s very easy to say but it’s very hard to do. You can just focus on playing cricket and keep scoring guns. He’s been doing that. But as a player, when you go through this phase, it’s really challenging and tough. But keep your head down and just focus on the controllable things,” Rahane told Indian Express.

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Rishabh Pant to lead Sarfaraz-less India A

India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant, who got injured in the England Test series, will make his comeback in India A Test against South Africa A. BCCI has appointed him captain for the series and Sai Sudharsan will be his deputy, featuring likes of Rajat Patidar, who led West Zone to the Duleep Trophy title. KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Abhimanyu Easwaran will join the squad for the second four-day game.

Sarfaraz Khan's international career

Sarfaraz made his Test debut against England in 2024, and the Mumbai batter has played six Test matches so far, where he scored 371 runs in 11 innings with a highest score of 150, including three half-centuries and one century. Sarfaraz's last Test outing came against New Zealand in 2024 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.