{"id":19736,"date":"2025-10-21T15:08:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T15:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/21\/after-being-ignored-again-former-national-selector-urges-sarfaraz-should-have-a-chat-with-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T15:08:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T15:08:39","slug":"after-being-ignored-again-former-national-selector-urges-sarfaraz-should-have-a-chat-with-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/21\/after-being-ignored-again-former-national-selector-urges-sarfaraz-should-have-a-chat-with-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"After Being Ignored Again, Former National Selector Urges ‘Sarfaraz Should Have A Chat With…’ | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Last Updated:<\/span>

Sarfaraz Khan was not picked in either of the two separate India A squads for South Africa A tour.<\/h2>\n
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Sarfaraz Khan has been dropped from India’s Test side (Image: Sportzpics)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

The last time Sarfaraz Khan played for India A, he scored 92 against the England Lions in Canterbury. During the games against Australia A last month, he was still recovering at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, when the national selection committee announced the Indian squad for the two first-class games against South Africa A, Sarfaraz, who will turn 28 on Wednesday, did not find his name in either of the two separate squads led by Rishabh Pant.<\/p>\n

Although Sarfaraz, who has recently lost a lot of weight and looks leaner than ever, might feel aggrieved, the decision from Ajit Agarkar and the Indian team management\u2019s perspective might not be as controversial as it appears on social media.<\/p>\n

It is understood that Pant, making a competitive comeback, will bat at No. 5 in both games, which is typically his slot in the Indian team.<\/p>\n

There is a school of thought among selectors that Sarfaraz should only be tried in a specific slot where the Indian team management remains uncertain, and right now, that is No. 3, where B Sai Sudharsan is trying to establish himself.<\/p>\n

Sudharsan is also part of the India A team in both games and serves as the deputy to Pant, batting at No. 3.<\/p>\n

What Can Sarfaraz Khan Do?<\/h2>\n

\u201cSarfaraz should have a chat with the Mumbai team management and also with their senior-most player Ajinkya Rahane and, maybe, try out batting at No. 3 where he might have to play the new ball. If he keeps batting at No. 5 or 6, it won\u2019t help. India have more all-round options for those slots. Pant, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Reddy\u2026 if all are fit and available (they) will occupy the middle-order, being multi-skilled players. When Pant is injured it will be Dhruv Jurel batting at No. 5 or 6,” a former national selector privy to the developments told PTI.<\/p>\n

Truth be told, Sarfaraz\u2019s four consecutive failures against New Zealand on rank turners contributed to his current position in the pecking order.<\/p>\n

With batting slots Nos. 1, 2, and 4 secured in the Test team and Nos. 5-8 belonging to multi-skilled players, the only place left is No. 3. The gutsy Mumbai batter might need to take a leap of faith and try out this new slot.<\/p>\n

Two players who got the nod ahead of Sarfaraz in the A team are Rajat Patidar and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Patidar did not make an impression in his three Tests against England in early 2024, but he is in a purple patch, having scored three hundreds, including a double ton, and three fifties in his last eight innings across five first-class games. His scores are 125, 66, 77, 101, 13, 66, 10, and 205 not out.<\/p>\n

Gaikwad, in his last three first-class outings, has scored one daddy hundred (184), one near-hundred (91), and another half-century.<\/p>\n

In many cases, it is not just about tall scores in domestic cricket but also the selection committee\u2019s view on who they believe is better suited for success at higher levels.<\/p>\n

Under Agarkar, this selection committee possibly sees more potential in Patidar and Gaikwad compared to Sarfaraz. The Mumbai player must keep piling on runs and see if batting at No. 3 and facing an almost new ball in challenging conditions works in his favour. He must also hope that Sudharsan does not cement his place in the squad by then.<\/p>\n

(With inputs from PTI)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ritayan Basu<\/a><\/p>\n

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin…Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin… Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n
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October 21, 2025, 20:35 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

News<\/a> cricket<\/a> After Being Ignored Again, Former National Selector Urges ‘Sarfaraz Should Have A Chat With…’<\/span><\/div>\n
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Last Updated:October 21, 2025, 20:35 IST Sarfaraz Khan was not picked in either of the two separate India A squads for South Africa A tour. Sarfaraz Khan has been dropped from India’s Test side (Image: Sportzpics) The last time Sarfaraz Khan played for India A, he scored 92 against the England Lions in Canterbury. During…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}