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Former West Indies opener Chris Gayle has put his weight behind former Punjab Kings (PBKS) teammate Sarfaraz Khan to make comeback into India's Test squad. Sarfaraz was dropped from the Test squad for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy on England soil, which ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw. Sarfaraz said that he saw Sarfaraz's transformation on social media. he slammed selectors for making his weight an issue and pointed out his first-class record.
“I mean, he should be in the Test side. He should be in the Test squad at least, you know. Scored a century against England at home, not in the squad. I saw a post a couple of days ago. He lost weight. The weight wasn’t even, nothing was wrong with his weight or anything. He’s just fine. He was still scoring runs," Gayle told Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel.
"The man scored triple centuries in first-class cricket. So if they’re using that against him, that’s sad, you know. They should never use that against him. That youngster should have been a part of the squad 100%. I mean, India have so much talent, man, but give the man a run," he added.
Gayle and Sarfaraz played together for PBKS and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Sarfaraz scores big but gets injured
Recently, Sarfaraz suffered a quadriceps injury during the Buchi Babu tournament clash against Haryana where he scored a century. It resulted in him getting ruled out of the Duleep Trophy 2025. He hasn’t been named in India A’s squad for two unofficial Test series against Australia A in Lucknow, starting September 16.
Sarfaraz doesn’t get a chance overseas
Sarfaraz did not get a single chance in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 on Australian soil. His only appearance on the Australian tour was a practice pink-ball match where he was dismissed for 1. Later, he was dropped from the Test squad for England tour. He scored a blazing 92 against England Lions but wasn’t considered for a role in the middle order.
There is no official word on the extent of Sarfaraz’s injury. It is yet to be seen whether he gets a place in the squad for the two-Test series against West Indies at home which will begin on October 2.
Sarfaraz’s Test record
The 27-year-old has 371 runs from six innings at an average of 37.10, including one century and three fifties. At first-class level, he has 4,685 runs from 55 games at an average of 65.98, including 16 centuries and 15 fifties.
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