Since the selection of a 16-man test squad has been announced for the upcoming tour of the West Indies, many questions have been raised, with many criticizing the rationale behind this selection. Foremost among them is the repeated neglect of Sarfaraz Khan. Former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar also issued a statement and heavily criticized the selection process, and now Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer has also hit out at the BCCI for selecting players like Ruturaj Gaikwad for the two-match test series.
Sarfaraz constantly overlooked by selectors
Sarfaraz Khan has scored loads of runs in the last three Ranji Trophy , and his career first-class average is second only to Don Bradman in the list of batsmen with at least 2000 runs, but Sarfaraz has always been overlooked by the selectors. In a conversation with Sports Today, Sunil Gavaskar stated that if Ranji Trophy numbers are being ignored for the test selections, then players should probably focus only on the IPL and get selected for the Indian team across all formats. He said, Tell him his performances are being recognized. Otherwise, stop playing the Ranji Trophy , it is of no use, just play IPL and think you are good for the red-ball games too.
Jaffer’s thoughts on selection
After Sunil Gavaskar’s rants, Jaffer took to Twitter and shared detailed thoughts on the selection for the West Indies tour. He made a three-point tweet and questioned the selection of four openers: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ruturaj Gaikwad, while Sarfaraz could have been picked for the middle order. Just like Gavaskar, Jaffer also raised questions about the neglect of Ranji Trophy numbers.
Jaffer’s three-pointer tweet stated, “What is the need for four openers? Instead, the selectors should have selected Sarfaraz as an additional middle-order batsman because he has been consistent in domestic cricket. His second point stated that Easwaran and Panchal have been knocking on the test doors for a long time, and they have been working hard for that in the Ranji Trophy and India A, but just because they don’t play in IPL, they are ignored. How did Ruturaj jump the queue? The third point said that it was surprising to see that Shami got rest too, even after a month-long break. He is a bowler who gets in better form the more he plays and will get fitter.
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