'If you look at his numbers in the past 3 years, he's head and shoulders above the rest.'
Batting great Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on the selectors for leaving out Sarfaraz Khan for the two Test series in the West Indies next month.
After India's defeat against Australia in the World Test Championship final, many expected the selectors to leave out the under-performing seniors and pick the top performing youngsters from the Ranji Trophy.
Sarfaraz was one player who certainly deserved to make the cut after his incredible performances with the bat in the last three Ranji Trophy seasons.
The Mumbai right-hander scored 556 runs in six games at an average of 92 in the Ranji Trophy last season.
He amassed 982 runs at an average of 122 in the 2021-2022 season and 928 runs at an average of 154 in the 2019-2020 season.
Instead, Maharashtra and Chennai Super Kings opener Ruturaj Gaikwad got the nod ahead of Sarfaraz even though his record was much inferior, with 364 runs in four games at an average of 52 in the previous Ranji season.
He missed rthe last Ranji season as he was picked in India's limited overs squad; he had tallied 439 runs at an average of 39 in the 2019-2020 Ranji season.
Sarfaraz's Mumbai team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 315 runs in five matches in the last Ranji season, was was expected to earn his maiden Test call-up after scoring 213 and 144 in the Irani Cup for Rest of India against Madhya Pradesh followed by splendid performances with the bat for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2023.
Gavaskar was as expected baffled by the selectors' decision to exclude Sarfaraz despite being one of the best batters in domestic cricket in the last three seasons. Gaikwad and Jaiswal, he says, could have got the nod as they performed much better than Sarfaraz in IPL 2023.
'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,' Gavaskar told India Today.
'Tell him that his performances are being recognised. 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.'
Former opener Akash Chopra was also at a loss of words to explain Sarfaraz's exclusion. He called on the BCCI to make public the reasons for Sarfaraz if he is not being considered for reasons other than cricket.
'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 said on his YouTube channel.
'This is a question worth asking. If there is 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,' Chopra said.
Another former India player Abhinav Mukund said this will send a big message to the young cricketers in the country that performing in the IPL than the Ranji Trophy is the faster route to make it to the Indian team.
'Unable to understand these selections -- too many thoughts in my head to compile into a tweet. But what is the incentive for a young player to take pride in playing for his state anymore?' Mukund tweeted.
'Clearly the franchise route is a faster way to scale the grade.'
