Sarfaraz Khan could need to improve his fitness if called up by India

Sunil Gavaskar was one of several to lament Sarfaraz Khan’s exclusion from the Indian squad for the West Indies trip, but BCCI officials said that his subpar “fitness level” and suspected “off-field conduct” were factors in the decision.

In the previous three Ranji seasons, the Mumbai batter amassed 2566 runs. In the 2019–20 season, he scored 928 runs. In the 2022–23 season, he scored 982 runs.

It was shocking that the 25-year-old, who has a very good lifetime average of 79.65 after 37 red ball matches, had to make room for someone like Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose career average is 42 or higher.

“The outraged responses are reasonable, but I can say with some degree of assurance that Sarfaraz’s repeated forgetfulness is due to reasons other than cricket. He hasn’t been taken into consideration for a number of reasons, a BCCI official with knowledge of the selection process told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

“Are the selection committee members stupid to overlook a player who has scored more than 900 runs in back-to-back seasons? His fitness, which isn’t quite up to par with international standards, is one of the causes.

The insider said, “He needs to train hard, maybe lose weight, and return slimmer and fitter since it’s not only batting fitness that is the primary basis for selection.

A source close to Sarfaraz, however, said that he just achieved a YoYo test score of 16.5 while working at NCA.

The BCCI official claims that the player’s lack of selection is due to factors other than fitness.

“His behaviour hasn’t exactly been stellar, either on or off the pitch. Some remarks spoken, some gestures made, and some situations have been noted. A little bit of self-discipline would be of great use to him. Hopefully, Sarfaraz will concentrate on such areas with the help of his father and coach Naushad Khan, the senior official said.

According to reports, Sarfaraz’s celebrations after his century against Delhi earlier this year during a Ranji match weren’t well received.

The insider said, “That’s a notion generated by media. If his IPL performance and perceived weakness against short ball have also contributed to his non-selection. Do you believe there could be a cricketing explanation?

“Mayank Agarwal amassed 1000 first-class runs in a single month before making his Test debut for India. Was his IPL eligibility verified by MSK Prasad’s committee? Hanuma Vihari, who advanced through the domestic and A team divisions, is similar. Why would SS Das’s committee rebuild the wheel now if their IPL and white ball record wasn’t examined back then? Simple. It’s not a cricketing excuse, he continued.

Sarfaraz will currently have a hard time joining the team.

Just consider it. Why wasn’t Sarfaraz included in the World Test Championship reserves at all? After Ruturaj withdrew owing to his marriage, the two reserves were Suryakumar Yadav and Yashasvi Jasiwal.

Ajinkya Rahane is now at No. 5 in the pecking order, while Gaikwad is the backup middle-order batsman who can also be employed as a floater.

Gaikwad will thus likely get a chance when Rahane fails. Suryakumar Yadav, who is playing Duleep Trophy for West Zone, cannot be completely ruled out either. And if Shreyas Iyer becomes fit, Sarfaraz’s path to an international call-up may become much more difficult.