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Mumbai chief selector Milind Rege has lashed out at young batter Sarfaraz Khan following his recent controversial remarks against Indian selectors after he was not named in the India squad for next month's Test series against Australia.
“Keep performing but making ridiculous comments won't help matters. Sarfaraz should refrain from making comments against his [India] selection. His job is to score runs. He has to concentrate on his batting,” Former Mumbai captain and current chief selector Milind Rege told Mid-Day.
“Sarfaraz has been in tremendous form, there is no question about it. But there has to be a place in the [Indian Test team] batting line-up. His form is incomparable and unbelievable. Wherever there is an opportunity I think he will get his chance. But right now, where is the place?” he added.
“When Amol is your Mumbai coach, why did he need his father [Naushad Khan] to coach him. I read a quote in a Marathi newspaper that he had called his father to coach him [in Delhi]. When a man like Amol, who scored more than 11,000 First-Class runs is a Mumbai coach, Sarfaraz should look at Amol's plight and carry on with the game. Amol scored plenty of runs, but he was never selected because there was no place in the national side,” Milind Rege pointed out.
Milind Rege's statement came days after many former Indian cricketers blasted the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel for overlooking Sarfaraz Khan and picking Suryakumar Yadav for the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Notably, Sarfaraz Khan has been scoring heavily in the domestic circle, with his numbers in the Ranji Trophy being exemplary, to say the least.
During the last Ranji season, Sarfaraz Khan made 982 runs with four tons and two fifties at an astounding average of 122.75. His highest score in the 2021-22 season was 275. In the ongoing essay of the tournament, he has already collected 801 runs at a highly impressive average of 89.
Overall, Sarfaraz Khan has scored 3,380 runs in 36 first-class matches at an excellent average of 80.47. Since making his debut in 2014, the middle-order batter has hit 12 hundreds and nine half-centuries, including a highest score of 301 in the premier domestic competition for Mumbai.
On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav’s first-class record stands in the pale shadow of Sarfaraz Khan. Though the India white-ball specialist has amassed 5,549 with 14 tons and 28 fifties, his average is not that impressive. Unlike Sarfaraz Khan, Suryakumar Yadav only averages 44.75 in Ranji Trophy and that’s why Aakash Chopra was left baffled by Suryakumar Yadav’s inclusion in the Indian Test squad.
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Aakash Chopra went as far as to say that Sarfaraz Khan has been “cheated on” by the Indian selectors as he has been ignored despite consistently posting stupendous numbers in the domestic circuit.
“Sarfaraz’s name is still not there. He feels he got cheated because his name should probably have come. Bumrah is still not there. That’s another news but I am more concerned that Sarfaraz is not there. When you picked Surya, it means a slot had opened up. In my opinion, Sarfaraz should have gotten that chance because Sarfaraz’s first-class average is 80. Apart from him, only Don Bradman has an average of 80 or more in the number of matches he has played,” Aakash Chopra added on his YouTube channel.
“So he has done everything in his powers to be in the Indian team. I am a little disappointed, that if you had a chance to select even one guy, because both Surya and Sarfaraz don’t come in the XI, Sarfaraz had the right in my opinion. If someone’s domestic season is going so good, you should have rewarded him,” he remarked.
The legendary Sunil Gavaskar was also baffled by the decision of the Indian selectors.
“At the end of the day, if you are unfit, you are not going to score hundreds. So cricket fitness is most important. I don’t have a problem with you wanting to do the Yo-Yo test or whatever it is, but the Yo-Yo test cannot be the only criterion. You got to make sure that the man is fit for cricket as well. And if the person, whoever it is, is fit for cricket, then I don't think it should really matter,” Sunil Gavaskar told Sports Today.
Sarfaraz Khan later revealed that he felt “sad” after the selectors ignored him once again.
“During the Ranji Trophy final at Bangalore, when I scored a century, I met the selectors. I was told that ‘you'll get your opportunity in Bangladesh. Be ready for that.' Recently, I met Chetan Sharma sir (chief selector) while we were checking in at the hotel in Mumbai. He asked me not to feel disheartened, and that my time will come. Good things take time to happen. You're very close (to an India berth). You'll get your chance. So, when I played another important knock, I had expectations. But it's alright,” Sarfaraz said in an interaction with the Times of India.
“When the team was announced and my name wasn't there, I was very sad. Anyone in my place in this world would've been sad, because I had expected to be picked, but wasn't (chosen). Yesterday, I was sad the whole day, when we travelled from Guwahati to Delhi. I was thinking about what and why it happened. I was feeling very lonely. I cried too,” he concluded.
