Congress national spokesperson Shama Mohammed has criticized India head coach Gautam Gambhir for not selecting Sarfaraz Khan in the India A squad for the upcoming series against South Africa A at home. Sarfaraz has already been dropped from the Test team but was expected to be picked in the India A squad, especially after Shreyas Iyer decided to take a break from red-ball cricket. Notably, Sarfaraz has also shed his weight a lot shutting down debate of his fitness.
However, the selection committee's decision to ignore him has reignited the debate on social media, with many alleging that the cricketer is being treated unfairly. Meanwhile, Shama took to X to slam Gambhir and also asked him if Sarfaraz is not being selected because of his surname. "Is Sarfaraz Khan not selected because of his surname! #justasking. We know where Gautam Gambhir stands on that matter," Mohammed wrote on X, referring to Gambhir's stint in the BJP.
Sarfaraz Khan last played for India in November 2024
As far as Sarfaraz Khan is concerned, he last played for India during the home series against New Zealand in November 2024 and didn't play in the series against Australia away from home. Interestingly, he wasn't selected for the England tour despite undergoing amazing physical transformation and wasn't even considered for the home series against the West Indies.
Moreover, the chairman of the senior selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, cited injury concerns to Sarfaraz Khan last month when asked about his omission for the series against the West Indies. He had missed both Duleep Trophy and the Irani Trophy due to the quadriceps injury, but featured in the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai.
"Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test (against New Zealand) and then didn't get runs. Sometimes these are decisions the team management takes. At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic cricket, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we're lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help," Agarkar had said about Sarfaraz during the squad announcement for England tour.
