Sarfarz Khan: Consecutive centuries in Ranji, still no place for him in Team India
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RCB player Sarfaraz Khan is performing well in domestic cricket. Everyone anticipated that dashing batsmen might get an entry to the Indian national team.
The Mumbai batter scored three big centuries in the ongoing 2022–23 Ranji season.
Despite strong performances in the Ranji, he was not selected for the Indian Test team. Moreover, he was snubbed for the "Border-Gavaskar" trophy, which is to be held in February.
A disheartened Sarfaraz got emotional and questioned the Indian selection committee by making a post about his domestic cricket records on his Instagram.
Sarfaraz Khan has been in the form of his life for the last three Ranji seasons. In the last three Ranji seasons, he scored 12 centuries, including a triple ton and a double ton.
The batter has played 37 matches (53 innings) of first-class cricket so far. His batting average of 81.51 is second only to that of Australian legend Brad Bradman (95.14).
Sarfaraz is the third batsman to score the most centuries in first-class cricket after 2020. He had 12 centuries, while Joe Root (13) and Marnus Labushane (15) were the top two scorers.
Sarfaraz represented Uttar Pradesh for some time, he played 11 matches for Uttar Pradesh until 2019.
Sarfaraz's performance improved after he moved to the Mumbai team. He scored a triple century in the first match and remained unbeaten. Ironically, he achieved that feat against Uttar Pradesh.
Many former players faulted the selection committee for not selecting Sarfaraz Khan for nationals. Cricket buffs and twitteratti are also not happy about Sarfaraz's non inclusion in the team.
Venkatesh Prasad said that "ignoring Sarfaraz is an insult to the domestic tournaments. If weight is his problem, there are people heavier than Sarfraz in Team India right now."
However few argue that international matches are quite challenging and players undergo a lot of pressure and the bar is also very high.
Some argue that Sarfaraz Khan's weight is affecting his selection despite his good performance.
Sarfaraz still has a chance to get a place in Team India. Only the team for the first two Tests of the Australia series was announced by the BCCI. He may still have a chance to make into the team for the next two tests if he keeps performing well in domestic cricket.
Sarfaraz's performance in the last 3 Ranji seasons