Former Indian opening batter Sunil Gavaskar launched a scathing attack on the selectors for ignoring Sarfaraz Khan for the upcoming West Indies tour. Gavaskar believes the youngsters should stop playing in the Ranji Trophy competition and stick to only IPL as first-class cricket seems to be carrying no weightage to play for the Indian team.
The BCCI, on Friday, announced a 17-man Test squad for the two-Test series in the West Indies, starting on July 12th in Dominica. However, Sarfaraz Khan, who has astonishing first-class numbers was again ignored. The 25-year-old averages 79.65 in 37 first-class games with 13 centuries and scored 556 runs in six matches in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy edition. Instead, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have received an opportunity.
Speaking to Sports Today, Gavaskar questioned what does Sarfaraz must do to seal his selection in the Tests side.
"Sarfaraz Khan has been scoring at an average of 100 in all past three seasons. What does he have to do to be picked in the squad? He might not be in the XI, but you pick him in the team. Tell him that his performances are being recognized. Otherwise, stop playing Ranji Trophy. Say, it's of no use, you just play IPL and think you are good enough for the red ball game as well."
Cheteshwar Pujara dropped from the Test side:
In further developments from the Test squad announcement, BCCI omitted Cheteshwar Pujara after his failure in the WTC final against Australia. Pujara, who played well for Sussex before the marquee fixture, made scores of 14 and 27 as India lost the final by 209 runs.
Furthermore, Ajinkya Rahane has been announced as vice-captain after becoming the top run-scorer for India in the WTC final. The three uncapped players in the squad are Jaiswal, Gaikwad, and Mukesh Kumar.
India's Test squad to face the West Indies: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
