Team India on January 13 declared a seventeen-man squad for the first two Tests against the Kangaroos and to the surprise of some, T20I specialist Suryakumar Yadav was also a part of it.
The batsman, despite not being a consistent batter in Indian domestic 4-day circuit was picked ahead of proven performers; none of whom aches as much as Sarfaraz Khan.
To draw the stark disparity between the two Mumbai batsmen in first-class cricket, Sarfaraz averages 80.47 off 36 matches and has 12 tons to his name while Suryakumar goes at 44.75 runs per dismissal and has scored just 2 more tons from 79 matches.
Irfan Pathan lashes out at BCCI’s treatment of Sarfaraz Khan
There has been an outrage over BCCI’s decision to snub Sarfaraz Khan, who has done more than one could imagine being a part of the Indian Test side.
Interestingly, former Team India all-rounder Irfan Pathan is also a part of it. Irfan, who has now established himself as one of the top Hindi commentators in India, has lashed out at BCCI’s lack of care for first-class performers.
He has opined that Ranji Trophy performance should be the primary criteria to rope in a cricketer into the Test team.
Ranji trophy performances should be the first criteria for test selections!
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 14, 2023
One can assume Irfan has shared this Tweet on the selection panel’s decision to offer Suryakumar Yadav a place over Sarfaraz Khan, who has been in tremendous touch for multiple seasons in the domestic circuit.
The numbers from Sarfaraz have been unfathomable in the last couple of Ranji seasons. The batsman scored 928 runs off 9 innings at an average of more than 150 during Ranji Trophy 2019-20 and 2021-22 saw him continue in the same vein, as he scored 982 runs off nine innings.
There is not much more to do, if anything at all, for the Bullish Batsman from Mumbai who has worked his skates off to transition from a T20 scoop-shot specialist to a proper red-ball batsman.
Indian cricket analyst Harsha Bhogle has also pointed out the same in a support Tweet for Sarfaraz Khan.
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
Notably, Ishan Kishan has also been selected for the first 2 home tests against the Pat Cummins-led Australian unit. Skipper Rohit Sharma has recovered from his thumb injury and is set to make a comeback with KL Rahul second in command.
India’s squad for first 2 Tests vs 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— BCCI (@BCCI) January 13, 2023
