On Friday, the new administration of the Indian selection committee selected the Indian squad for upcoming fixtures. The Indian ODI and T20I squads against New Zealand and the test squads for the first two tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia were announced. Just like the Sri Lanka series, the Chetan Sharma-led team announced almost the same squad against New Zealand with a few changes.
After some brilliant, consistent performances at the domestic level, Prithvi Shaw got a chance in the T20I squad, while Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan got their maiden test calls after their white-ball performances. Suryakumar has already shown the world that he can be a true matchwinner who can win matches single-handedly for his team. But some fans questioned his place in the test team.
Meanwhile, some fans also raised questions over the decision to ignore Sarfaraz Khan on the test side despite his exceptional form on the domestic circuit. Sarfaraz Ahmed scored 982 runs at an incredible average of 122.75 in the last Ranji Trophy 2021-22. He also smashed four centuries and two half-centuries with a highest score of 275.
On the other hand, he has already scored 431 runs at a brilliant average of 107.75 with two hundreds in the ongoing season. And after the selection committee gave Suryakumar Yadav the chance in the first two tests, fans also expressed their displeasure on the social media platforms. Even senior commentator and cricket expert Harsha Bhogle was not convinced about Sarfaraz not getting a chance.
Very hard on Sarfaraz Khan who has literally broken the door down in first class cricket. You can't do more than he has.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 13, 2023
SKY – Avg -44, SR – 63
Kishan – Avg -38, SR – 69
Sarfaraz – Avg. – 80, SR – 70
"Sarfaraz iS aN aCcuMalaTor" https://t.co/QZyN3PZ4Dn— ∆nkit🏏 (@CaughtAtGully) January 13, 2023Advertisement
Sarfaraz Khan must be devasted! When will he get rewarded for his performances? A player who’s scoring tons every now and then and still doesn’t get picked while almost everyone else finds a place is something really tough to take!
— Mohsin Kamal (@64MohsinKamal) January 13, 2023
Sarfaraz a victim of not having social media fan following like sanju. Poor guy has done more than enough to be in the squad. such a shame he is not included. #sarfarazkhan
— Deepak Gupta (@DeepalGupta11) January 14, 2023
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.
— Shivani Shukla (@iShivani_Shukla) January 13, 2023
Baffling selection by this committee, yet again.
Its really hard for #sarfarazkhan to not to be included in upcoming home series despite averaging 80+ in #RanjiTrophy
— Edged & Taken🇵🇰 (@AsifdChauhan) January 14, 2023
On contrary, #SuryakumarYadav & #IshanKishan are selected on T20 performance 😐 #RahulDravid #BCCISelectionCommittee
What else you want from him ?🥲#sarfarazkhan #BCCISelectionCommittee #INDvsAUS #TestCricket @BCCI @chetans1987 pic.twitter.com/4sOkLPXkSB
— Sarwar Nagpal (@nagpal_sarwar) January 14, 2023
Dear @BCCI can you consider Cheteshwar Pujara for selection in ODIs and T20Is on the basis of his test performance?#BCCISelectionCommittee
— Baishnav Sharma (@BaishnavSharma) January 14, 2023
What is this….
— tarun batra (@tarunbatra943) January 14, 2023
Bcci is insulting ranji trophy…
Why indian selector is ignore sarfaraz khan???@BCCI @cricbuzz@ajinkyarahane88@sachin_rt
An insult to the Ranji Trophy @BCCI @BCCIdomestic #sarfarazkhan
— ज़िशान (@Zeeshantweeet) January 14, 2023
