The BCCI selection committee on Tuesday, October 21, announced the India A squads for the two red-ball matches against South Africa A later this month and in the first week of November at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will lead the side in the two games, returning to competitive cricket for the first time since his foot injury sustained during the Manchester Test in July against England, while the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rajat Patidar were included.
India regulars KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna will come into the squad for the second game from November 6 onwards, while the rest of the players involved will return to their respective Ranji Trophy squads. Sarfaraz Khan was the notable omission as despite scoring a 92 against England Lions and 74 runs at the start of the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai, the right-handed batter continue to face the snub.
The fans, the viewers and the media voiced their reaction almost immediately asking in unison if Sarfaraz has done anything wrong. Many doubted if there was a cricketing decision to leave Sarfaraz out as he returned scores of 42 and 32 in his first game back from injury and has been a consistent figure in domestic red-ball cricket. A few suggested that the drop might indicate what's to come in the future in terms of Test squad selection as well for the right-handed batter. Take a look at some of the reactions-
The official word from the chief selector Ajit Agarkar was that he was injured when the committee had sat down to pick the team for the West Indies Test, which suggested that the 27-year-old was still in contention for the national side, but the India A omission now says otherwise. With Rishabh Pant likely to return for the South Africa series, Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel are already in the line for spots in the middle-order but Sarfaraz's repeated snub doesn't make a good look for the selectors and the players, who consistently keep grinding in first-class cricket.
India A squad for the 1st four-day match: Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagdeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Ayush Badoni, Saransh Jain, Khaleel Ahmed.
India A squad for the 2nd four-day match: Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
