IND vs AUS 2023: Not having Sarfaraz Khan in Test team is not only fair but also abuse to domestic circuit – Venkatesh Prasad

Former Indian fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad slammed the All India Selection Committee for ignoring Sarfaraz Khan despite his impressive run in the domestic circuit. The youngster has been in prime form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy for Mumbai but he could not find his name in the Test squad for the series against Australia.

However, Suryakumar Yadav was added to the Test squad based on his T20I form. Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Khan has been knocking down the selection doors and has amassed 3380 runs in 33 matches at a magnificent average of 80.47.

Khan has returned with scores of 5, 126*, 75, 20, 162, 15*, and 28* in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. Furthermore, the 25-year-old from Mumbai was in sublime form in the previous season, scoring 982 runs. The right-hander had also scored 928 runs in the 2019-20 season but despite performing so consistently he hasn’t been able to catch the selectors’ eyes.

The 25-year-old continued his good show as he scored 125 runs in the first innings of the ongoing Ranji Trophy clash against Delhi at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Meanwhile, Venkatesh Prasad slammed Sarfaraz Kham’s critics who have been questioning his fitness.

“Not having him in the Test Team despite 3 blockbuster domestic seasons is not only unfair on Sarfaraz Khan, but it’s an abuse to domestic cricket, almost as if this platform doesn’t matter. And he is FIT to score those runs. As far as body weight goes, there are many with more kgs,” Prasad tweeted slamming the reports against Sarafarz’s fitness.

The first Test match between India and Australia will be played in Nagpur from February 9 but it is baffling to note that Khan was ignored by the selectors despite going through such a purple patch.

India squad for first two Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.