India's former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar is not happy with the Test squad for Sri Lanka series which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Saturday (February 19). He feels that the selectors must have considered the much deserving Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sarfaraz Khan for the upcoming two-match Test squad given their performance in the domestic circuit.
“It seems there isn’t application of mind when the team is selected. How can one explain the omission of Ruturaj and Sarfaraz, who are two of the most prolific scorers in the domestic circuit? Looking at the team, a couple of players, though talented, haven’t done much to merit their place in the squad," Vengsarkar told Times of India.
“Let every player earn his place in the team and not take it for granted. Ruturaj and Sarfaraz deserve a place. The selectors are damaging their morale by not selecting them for India”, he added.
The 24-year-old Sarfaraz scored a blistering 275 during Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy 2022 opener against Saurashtra at Ahmedabad recently. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is currently in the Indian squad for the T20I series against the West Indies has amassed 1349 runs in first-class cricket from 21 matches averaging 38.54 and a strike rate of 50.84 including four centuries, and also has 3284 List-A runs from 64 appearances averaging 54.73 and a strike rate of 100.09.
Ruturaj is part of India's white-ball setup but is yet to get a Test call-up. He played two T20Is on the tour of Sri Lanka last year but has not featured for the Men in Blue since despite being part of the T20I squad for the New Zealand series, ODI squad for South Africa series, and part of both the ODI and T20I squad for the ongoing clash against West Indies.
Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the new red-ball captain with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as his deputy. With the senior players Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara axed, Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari would be expected to bolster the Indian team’s middle-order along with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant.
The first match of two-match Test series against Sri Lanka will be played from March 4 in Mohali while the second and final match will be held in Bengaluru on March 12. Before the Test challenge, India will be playing three T20Is against Lanka on February 24 (Lucknow), February 26 (Dharamsala) and February 27 (Dharamsala).
India's Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, R Ashwin (subject to fitness), R Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Bumrah (VC), Shami, Siraj, Umesh, Saurabh Kumar.
India T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan.
