Ajinkya Rahane, the senior batsman who recently made his comeback in the World Test Championship final, was named the vice-captain. However, Cheteshwar Pujara faced the disappointment of being dropped from the squad after his poor performance in the title clash.
Meanwhile, young talents Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad received their maiden Test call-ups. Despite these notable inclusions, there was one glaring omission that caught the attention of many – Sarfaraz Khan.
Sarfaraz, despite consistently impressive performances in the Ranji Trophy over the past few years, has yet to receive a national call-up. Following his exclusion from the Windies tour, former India opener Aakash Chopra criticized the lack of clarity from the BCCI regarding Sarfaraz’s absence.
Chopra raised questions about the reasons behind Sarfaraz’s continual snubs and suggested that if the reasons were unrelated to his domestic performances, the board should make them public.
“What should Sarfaraz do? If you look at his numbers in the past 3 years, he’s head and shoulders above the rest. He’s scored everywhere. Even then, if he’s not selected… what message does it send?” Chopra questioned on his official YouTube channel.
“This is a question worth asking. If there’s some other reason, something which you and I don’t know, make it public. Just say it that you didn’t like that particular thing about Sarfaraz, and that’s why you’re not considering him. But we don’t know if there’s something like that. I don’t know if someone told Sarfaraz about that.
“If you don’t value first-class runs, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth,” the former India opener expressed.
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In addition to Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, another domestic star who has been consistently performing impressively in the Ranji Trophy, was also snubbed from the Test squad for the West Indies tour.
The exclusions of these talented players have raised eyebrows and sparked discussions about the selection process and the criteria used by the BCCI.