Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has expressed his displeasure over the continued absence of Sarfaraz Khan from India's Test team. He has been omitted from the West Indies tour as well and Gavaskar opined that his non-selection is an indication that the importance of the Ranji Trophy and the players playing in it has decreased.
Citing the example of Sarfaraz Khan, Sunil Gavaskar said that a batter's performance in India's domestic cricket should be recognised, "Sarfaraz Khan has been scoring runs at an average above 100 for the last three seasons. What else does he have to do to get selected for the team? Even if his place is not made in the playing eleven, he can be taken into the team."
Sarfaraz Khan, who plays domestically for Mumbai, has been consistently performing since 2020. He scored 556 runs in six matches at an average of 92.66 in the 2022-21 season, including three centuries. Earlier in the 2021-22 season, he scored 982 runs in six matches at an average of 122.75 and was the highest run scorer, including four centuries.
In the 2019-20 season, he scored 928 runs in six matches at an average of 154.66 with three centuries to his name. In total, he has scored 10 centuries in three seasons and amassed a total of 2466 runs. In the last three seasons, no other Indian batter has been able to score so many runs in domestic cricket.
"Tell him that his performance is being watched. Otherwise, stop playing Ranji Trophy. Say that it has no meaning. Play only IPL and understand that he can also play red-ball cricket well," Gavaskar added about the 25-year-old batter.
Sarfaraz was a contender for the number three position. But instead, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been selected for the trip to the Caribbean. Both of them will have a chance to fill Cheteshwar Pujara's place as the veteran has not been selected to the Indian Test team for the West Indies tour after being dropped after his poor showing in the WTC Final.
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