The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 17-member India's squad for the Test series against Australia which is slated to start from February 9. BCCI also announced Team India's squad for the New Zealand series which will see three-ODIs and as many T20Is. While Prithvi Shaw was included in India's squad for the New Zealand series, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan received India call up for the Boarder-Gavaskar Test series.
Despite Sarfaraz Khan's sensational show with the bat in the domestic cricket, he was snubbed from India's Test squad which left the cricket fans fuming on the social media. Fans questioned the selection committee for ignoring Sarfaraz and picking Suryakumar.
Sarfaraz amassed a total of 982 runs at an average of 122.75 riding on four centuries and two fifties in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy as his highest score remained 275. As far as the ongoing Ranji Trophy season is concerned, he has scored 431 runs at an average of 107.75 on the back of two centuries a half-century.
One of the Twitter user said, “Selecting Suryakumar Yadav ahead of Sarfaraz Khan in Tests is an insult to Ranji Trophy. That guy has been one of the most consistent run-getters in First Class cricket and deserved that call-up more than anyone. Baffling selection by this committee, yet again.”
Meanwhile, renown cricket analyst and commentator Harsha Bhogle said,"Very hard on Sarfaraz Khan who has literally broken the door down in first class cricket. You can't do more than he has."
Here are the other reactions which was seen flooding the Twitter wall.
India's squad for first two Test against Australia:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, C Pujara, V Kohli, S Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia's squad
Australia Test squad for India tour: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
India’s ODI squad against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik.
India’s T20I squad against New Zealand: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Suryakumar Yadav (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar.
