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‘He should be there but..’: Senior IND opener backs selector’s decision to exclude Sarfaraz Khan for AUS Tests

The Chetan Sharma-led selection committee’s decision to ignore Sarfaraz Khan for the upcoming four-match Test series against Australia has surprised many. For the past few seasons, the 25-year-old Khan has been scoring big runs for his state team Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, but he has gone unnoticed.The BCCI announced the 17-member squad for the first two Tests against Australia on January 13, and the omission of Sarfaraz came as a big surprise. The Chetan Sharma-led selection committee is getting blasted for ignoring the young batter time and again.
But now, after much uproar, a senior Indian batter has slammed the critics of the selection committee and backed their decision. Tamil Nadu cricketer Abhinav Mukund, who has played seven Test matches for India, said that though he agrees that Sarfaraz has done enough to seal a place in the side, selectors didn’t include him in the team because there aren’t any vacancies for him to fill.
Speaking to News 18, the 33-year-old left-handed opening batter said that he doesn’t agree with the assumption that Ranji Trophy performances are not enough to get a place in the Indian Test team.
“I don’t think so. I think Sarfaraz should be there. Let’s keep that point straight. I think Sarfaraz has done enough to warrant a place in the Indian team. But, if you look at Ranji performances not being rewarded in this case, yes. But if you look at Jaydev Unadkat, they drafted him into the team after the sensational Ranji Trophy in the last two or three years,” he said.
“So, I think it’s just a case of the vacancies and the positions available. They’ve gone with a call that they feel is right for the first two Tests by bringing in Suryakumar Yadav. I may or may not agree with that, but the thing is, there needs to be an opening for you to get in. You can score thousands of runs, but if someone else is doing really well there, then it’s very difficult for you to get there. There should be a vacancy for you to get a job, right? Yeah. It’s just like that,” he added.
Sarfaraz is a middle-order batter, but at the moment, the Indian team’s middle order is jam-packed with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer. The trio has been on the run, and that’s why, despite his rich form, Sarfaraz wasn’t considered.

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