NEW DELHI: A strong sense of discussion and debate is currently surrounding Sarfaraz Khan's unexpected omission from the India A squad set to face South Africa A in a red-ball series starting this Thursday. Despite his recent Test century and long-standing dominance in domestic cricket, the 28-year-old middle-order batter finds himself sidelined yet again.
Indian Politician Shashi Tharoor Questions Snub
The decision to exclude Sarfaraz from the India A squad—even after he reportedly outperformed many of the selected players during a previous India A tour of England—drew immediate and sharp criticism from several quarters, including prominent Indian politician and Member of Parliament, Shashi Tharoor.
This is frankly an outrage. @SarfarazA_54 averages 65-plus in first class cricket, scored a 50 on Test debut and a 150 in a Test we lost, made 92 in his only tour match in England (and a century in the practice match against the full Indian Test team) -- and still finds himself… https://t.co/gtq1ni03DQ
Taking to X, Tharoor labelled the non-selection an "outrage" and used Sarfaraz’s stellar record as evidence of the oversight:
"This is frankly an outrage. Sarafaraz averages 65-plus in first-class cricket, scored a 50 on Test debut and a 150 in a Test we lost, made 92 in his only tour match in England... and still finds himself excluded from the selectors' frame of reference."
Tharoor went on to advocate for other established talents who are performing well in the domestic circuit:
"I am also very glad to see Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw and Karun Nair making runs in the #RanjiTrophy... Our selectors are too quick to discard proven talent in order to take a punt on 'potential'."
He concluded by stressing the importance of valuing domestic performance:
"Runs in domestic cricket must be valued by the selectors, not just the IPL, otherwise why should anyone bother to play the Ranji?"
Sarfaraz Khan's numbers in First Class
Despite the hurdles and the lack of consistent opportunities, Sarfaraz Khan’s numbers stand as an undeniable testament to his class in red-ball cricket. His First-Class career boasts 4,760 runs in just 57 matches. Crucially, he maintains an exceptional First-Class average of 64.32.
Furthermore, in his brief stint with the senior Test side, he scored 371 runs across six matches, including one century and three half-centuries, confirming his ability to transfer his domestic success to the highest level.
