India vs West Indies Test: Sarfaraz Khan to be exposed against Real Pace in IPL 2023, BCCI official reveals off-field issues

Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan has scored a ton of runs in domestic cricket, especially in the Ranji Trophy tournament, in the last three seasons. However, the Mumbaikar is still yet to find a place in the Indian Test squad for the two-match series against the West Indies next month, while Maharashtra and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Ruturaj Gaikwad have received call-ups.

On Sunday, Sarfaraz Khan tried to hit back at the Indian selectors by sharing his home numbers on his social media account. The Mumbai batsman has scored 2566 runs in the last three Ranji seasons. He scored 928 runs in 2019/20 season, 982 runs in 2022-23 and 656 runs in 2022-23 season.

However, a former India selector told Hindustan Times that Sarfaraz Khan was exposed against top-class pace bowling in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. In IPL 2023, Sarfaraz played only 4 matches for Delhi Capitals, scoring 53 runs at an average of 13.25 and a strike-rate of 85.48 with a top score of 30. Overall, Sarfaraz has only 585 runs in 50 matches in IPL with just 1 half-century to his name.

“This includes Sarfaraz Khan being completely exposed to the fast bowlers in the IPL or Abhimanyu Easwaran not scoring in seven consecutive Ranji knock-out matches (three quarter-finals, two semi-finals and two finals) for Bengal. Hindustan Times quoted a former selector as saying, it’s not just how many runs you score, but how you score them.

The 25-year-old has a very impressive career average of 79.65 after 37 red-ball games in domestic cricket, so it came as little surprise to see the two-time former India U-19 World Cup player make way for someone like Ruturaj Gaikwad. Had to make Whose career average is more than 42.

“The angry reactions are understandable but I can tell you with some degree of certainty that cricket is not the only reason why Sarfaraz has been sidelined time and again. There are various reasons because of which he was not considered,” a BCCI official with knowledge of the selection developments told news agency PTI on condition of anonymity.

“Are the selectors being fools who will not consider a player who scores 900+ runs in consecutive seasons? One reason for this is his fitness which is not exactly of international standard. He will have to train hard, probably lose weight and come back lean and fit as batting fitness alone is not the only selection criteria,” said the source.

According to the BCCI official, fitness is not the only reason for his non-selection. “His conduct on and off the field has not been top notch at all. Some things were said, some gestures were made and some incidents were noticed. Only a slightly more disciplined approach will do him a world of good. Hopefully Sarfaraz will work on those aspects with his father and coach Naushad Khan.

See here Sarfaraz Khan’s aggressive celebration against former selector Chetan Sharma…

Sarfaraz Khan’s aggressive celebration by pointing at selector Chetan Sharma, who was watching a Ranji match from the stands, didn’t go down well with the public. #sarfarazkhan #BCCI pic.twitter.com/qIZqgAEIi7

– Cricket Videos _ (@Abdullah__Neaz) 25 June 2023

Reportedly, Sarfaraz’s celebration after his century against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy earlier this year did not go down well. After scoring the century, Sarfaraz was seen pointing a finger at Chetan Sharma, the former chairman of the selection committee.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra questioned what should Sarfaraz Khan do for selection. What should Sarfaraz do? If you look at the first-class runs in the last three years, if that guy was running ahead of the rest and scoring a lot of runs all over the place, and if he doesn’t get selected, what message does that send? It is a question worth asking,” Chopra asked in a video on his YouTube channel.