Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressed disappointment and frustration after Sarfaraz Khan was excluded from India A’s squad for the upcoming four-day series against South Africa A. The decision raised eyebrows, given the Mumbai batter’s consistent performances in domestic cricket and his strong form in 2024.
Ashwin Questions Selectors Over Sarfaraz Khan’s Omission
Sarfaraz Khan, who made his Test debut earlier in the year against England, boasts an impressive first-class average of over 65. Despite scoring heavily in the Ranji Trophy and smashing a century against New Zealand A in Bengaluru, he was overlooked for the red-ball squad. Instead, the selectors chose to include youngsters Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar, leaving Ashwin questioning the rationale behind the decision.
“𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒛’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑨 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒁𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔, ‘𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒛, 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆,’” 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍.
The veteran off-spinner, who has shared the dressing room with Sarfaraz in six Tests, said that such decisions demotivate hardworking domestic players. Ashwin compared the situation to past cases of Subramaniam Badrinath and Manoj Tiwary, who were once regulars in India A but never received extended opportunities in the senior team.
Ashwin Questions Selection Policy and Communication
Ashwin further stressed that clarity and consistency in communication between selectors and players are vital. He remarked that selectors must align their words with their actions if they are genuinely focused on grooming fresh talent.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒊𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑨 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑨𝒃𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒖 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓?” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
BCCI Clarifies Sarfaraz’s Exclusion
Meanwhile, the BCCI addressed the growing controversy, clarifying that Sarfaraz Khan’s omission was not related to bias or performance but due to fitness and workload concerns. A BCCI source revealed that Sarfaraz Khan had only played one competitive match since returning from a quadriceps injury, and selectors wanted to monitor his form through the ongoing Ranji Trophy before recalling him.
“𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒛 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚. 𝑯𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒊 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑨 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅,” 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑵𝑫𝑻𝑽.
The source added that the right-hander remains in contention for future selections.
“𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅.
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