KL Rahul has been ruled out of India’s squad for the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia at the England Oval due to injury, and Ishan Kishan has been named as his replacement. Mumbai’s star batsman, run machine Sarbaraz Khan has been victimized again.
Suriya Kumar Yadav was given a chance in the Test match, but Sarbaraz Khan was also left out even though the Australian team was here. Sarbaraz Khan has scored 3,505 runs in 37 first-class, i.e., red-ball cricket matches at an average of 79.65, which is unbeaten by any other current Indian player. This includes 13 centuries and 9 fifties. Sarbaraz Khan has hit 393 fours and 66 sixes in this format. He has an extraordinary strike rate of 79.65 in red ball cricket. Highest individual score 301 not out. Three centuries and one half-century in last 6 first-class matches. What else do you need to be selected here? The team selection committee, BCCI and Jai Shah are in the spotlight.
What are Ishan Kishan’s recent matches? Just an IPL series. He has scored 293 runs in 10 games. Nothing much came up. But everyone’s question is whether there is any logic in the fact that he has been selected against Australia in the final and also in England.
Even now Ruduraj Gaekwad and Suryakumar Yadav have been added as back-up players. But Sarbaraz Khan is excluded. A bowler named Mukesh Kumar has been added as a reserve bowler. Apart from being a CSK player, Rudraaj Gaekwad has not achieved anything in the IPL apart from his poor delivery in the concession matches. Abhimanyu should have really chosen Easwaran instead. It is expected that Sarbaras should have taken Khan in the team.
Sarbaraz Khan has scored 556 runs at an average of 92.66 in the 2022-23 Ranji season. But to single him out is unfair to everyone. How long will Sarbaraz Khan have to wait? Why Ravi Shastri is not talking, Gavaskar is not talking, Gambhir is not talking, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Dravid is not talking about Sarbaras being excluded?
This is how they dismissed Rajasthan pacer Pankaj Singh. Why play domestic cricket for regional interests? Is it because of the desire to dance for the country? If they don’t get a chance to play terribly here, it’s better for people like Sarbaras to ask the BCCI selection committee one last time and retire and play in other foreign T20 leagues.
Otherwise the fate of Pankaj Singh will happen or the talent of Sarbaraz Khan will be pushed into obscurity like Karun Nair was eliminated and Manish Pandey was eliminated. The functioning of BCCI should be made transparent. Only then will people know why Sarbaraz Khan is not being considered for the selection.
