'India have so much talent, man, but give the man a run.'
Chris Gayle has thrown his weight behind former IPL teammate Sarfaraz Khan, who has fallen out of favour with the national selectors despite scoring heavily in first class cricket and undergoing a stunning transformation by shedding 17 kg of body weight.
Gayle did not hide his disappointment at the repeated and persistent exclusion of Sarfaraz, saying he has been ignored despite proving his mettle at the highest level, suggesting selectors prioritise other factors beyond pure merit.
The middle-order batter last played a Test during New Zealand's tour of India last year, where he scored a brilliant 150 in the first Test in Bengaluru. But he couldn't muster big scores in the next two Tests as India lost the series 0-3.
'He should be in the Test side... He lost weight. The weight wasn't even, nothing was wrong with his weight or anything. He's just fine. He was still scoring runs,' Gayle said in a podcast episode with Shubhankar Mishra.
'The man scored triple centuries in first class cricket. So if they're using that against him, that's sad, you know. They should never use that against him. That youngster should have been a part of the squad 100 percent. I mean, India have so much talent, man, but give the man a run,' he added.
The 27-year-old Mumbaikar, who broke into the national squad in early 2024 after enduring a long wait, did not make it to the India A side, who are scheduled to play two first-class games against their Australian counterparts in Lucknow from September 16.
According to reports, he sustained a quadriceps injury during the Buchi Babu Trophy competition in Chennai last month.
Sarfaraz has featured in six Tests so far, in which he aggregated 371 runs at an average of 37.1. He has a Test century and three half-centuries under his belt.
He has tallied 4,685 first-class runs in 55 games, including 16 centuries, at an impressive average of 65.98.
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