One of India's most prolific domestic cricketer Sarfaraz Khan shared an Instagram story after being ignored for the two-Test series in the West Indies, starting on July 12th in Dominica. As a result, the 25-year-old took to his Instagram account and shared a picture of batting nets alongside the caption 'One Love'. The post has gone massively viral.
Sarfaraz has been knocking the selectors' doors with consistent performances in the domestic circuit in the last two Ranji Trophy editions. The right-handed batter averaged 92.66 in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season and 122.75 in the one before that. His 982 runs in six games were also the highest that season.
Despite such performances in red-ball cricket, the BCCI instead selected Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad - both of whom performed exceptionally well in IPL 2023. As a result, Sarfaraz took to Instagram and posted the below story alongside a song from the movie 'Lakshay'. Overall, in first-class cricket, Sarfaraz has mustered 3505 runs in 37 matches and 79.65.
Sarfaraz Khan's instagram story. | (Credits: Instagram)
Sunil Gavaskar blasts the selectors for ignoring Sarfaraz Khan:
In a chat with Sports Today on Friday, Gavaskar questioned whether IPL is the criteria for players to get into the Test team and rendered the Ranji Trophy useless. Gavaskar stated:
"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."
The three uncapped players in the 17-player squad are Jaiswal, Gaikwad, and Mukesh Kumar.
