For the third time in 2023, Sarfaraz Khan was ignored by the BCCI selection committee for a place in the Indian Test team. Despite a plethora of runs scored in the last three seasons of the Ranji Trophy tournament, the Mumbai batsman is yet to earn his first international call-up and his latest insult is the West Indies tour.
As criticism mounted against BCCI from veterans and legends alike, a board official broke his silence on why Sarfaraz was ignored. However, the former national coach slammed the BCCI for the reasons given behind the non-selection, calling it “very flimsy”.
Last week, a BCCI official privy to the selection development told on the condition of anonymity that Sarfaraz was ignored for his below average “fitness level” and “behaviour off the field”.
“His conduct on and off the field was not exactly top-notch. Certain things were said, certain gestures and certain incidents were taken into account. A little more disciplined approach would only do him good. Hopefully, Sarfaraz along with his father and coach Naushad Khan will work on these aspects ,” said a senior official while pointing to the batsman’s wild celebration after scoring against Delhi in January this year in the presence of the national selector in the stands.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Saba Karim criticized the BCCI for the remarks he made when he asked why the Mumbai team had never raised a similar issue where they played regularly.
“I don’t believe all this. I think it is the job of the management and the coach to deal with such cricketers if there is any such problem, but after interacting with Sarfaraz, I don’t think there is a problem.” at all. If this is a problem, how come he plays regularly for Mumbai? [We haven’t heard] anything from the Mumbai coach, the captain or the management,” he said.
“He played regularly, was fit, played most of the matches and played all format matches for Mumbai as well as Rest of India or zonal level,” he added. “And he did well in all those games. That, in my opinion, cannot be a reason for not being selected.”
