Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has taken a harsh dig at Indian selectors for repeatedly ignoring Sarfaraz Khan, who is currently in the best form of his cricketing career.
In the last three editions of the Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz has scored over 2400 runs but still he failed to receive his maiden India call-up. The Indian team selectors dropped former Test captain Ajinkya Rahane from the squad last year after his string of low scores in the longest format. Rahane’s exclusion and injury to Shreyas Iyer opened a vacant spot in the team for the Australia Tests, but the selection committee gave preference to white-ball stars Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, rather than including Sarfaraz.
The squad named by the selectors for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy did’t go down well with many cricket pundits. And now Gavaskar has come down hard at the national selectors and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for ignoring Sarfaraz.
“At the end of the day, if you are unfit, you are not going to score hundreds. So, cricket fitness is most important. I don’t have a problem with you wanting to do the Yo-Yo test or whatever it is, but the Yo-Yo test cannot be the only criterion,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to Sports Today.
“You got to make sure that the man is fit for cricket as well. And if the person, whoever it is, is fit for cricket, then I don’t think it should really matter. He is not staying off the field when he is scoring hundreds, he is back on the field again. All that tells you that the man is fit for cricket,” the little master added.
“If you are looking for only slim and trim guys, then you might as well go to a fashion show and pick some models and then give them a bat and ball in their hand and then include them. You have cricketers in all shapes and sizes. Don’t go by the size, but go by the runs and the wickets,” concluded Gavaskar.
