Team India will face Australia in four-match Test series commencing on February 9. It is an important assignment for the Men in Blues if they want to reach the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023.
On Friday (January 13), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 17-member squad for the first two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
Notably, the two games will take place in Nagpur (February 9-13) and Delhi (February 17-21), respectively.
However, the BCCI took everyone by surprise when they included India’s T20I specialist Suryakumar Yadav into the Test squad but ignored Sarfaraz Khan, despite the latter’s prolific performances in the domestic circuit.
Many former cricketers questioned Sarfaraz’s exclusion, and the fans also weren’t thrilled about the fact that the 25-year-old didn’t get picked into the longest format.
After being ignored by the selectors once again, the disappointed Sarfaraz took to his Instagram and posted two stories showing his records in first-class and domestic circuit.
The opening story depicted Sarfaraz’s first-class batting stats. With an average of 80.47, the Mumbai cricketer is only second to legendary Sir Don Bradman among batters with a minimum of 50 innings.
The second story, on the other hand, showed his batting average (110.73) for Mumbai in first-class matches.
In the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz smashed 982 runs at an average of 122.75 with four centuries and two fifties. Meanwhile, in the ongoing edition of the tournament, he slammed 431 runs at an average of 107.75 with two tons and a half-century.
Other than Suryakumar, even Ishan Kishan received his maiden call-up in the Test side for the upcoming home series.
Before the Australia challenge, India will face New Zealand in three T20Is and as many ODIs. Right-handed opener Prithvi Shaw has been recalled in the shortest format following his sensational performance in the domestic level.
