Indian team announced: Sarfaraz and Easwaran still not picked

For the West Indies tour, the Indian test team and ODI team were released. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, two batters, received their first test calls for the tour. The controversy over the exclusion of Ranji Trophy batters like Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran was reignited by the selection announcement.

The test lineup omitted players like Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran. Cheteshwar Pujara, who bats at number three and has been a pillar of the Indian team, was also noticeably absent from the team. Many fans and experts questioned the exclusion of Sarfaraz and Easwaran from the team.

Sarfaraz Khan

In the 2022–23 Ranji Trophy season, Sarfaraz Khan scored 556 runs over nine innings in six games. He recorded three century during his nine innings. In the domestic season, he played at a strike rate of 72.49 and had an average of 92.66. One of the Ranji Trophy’s most reliable batters has been Sarfaraz. He averaged 122.75 runs per nine innings in 2021/22 and scored 982 runs. According to earlier reports, the batter’s ineligibility was caused by physical problems. The BCCI has not provided a clear explanation for Sarfaraz’s exclusion from the team. In the IPL 2023, he was a member of the Delhi Capitals team. He participated in 4 matches, but he was all over the place and only scored 53 runs. The Ranji Trophy is India’s domestic first-class system and players’ accomplishments there have been disregarded.

Abhimanyu Easwaran 

Another significant absence from the West Indies trip roster was Abhimanyu Easwaran. The Bengal team’s opening game had the seventh-highest run total in the Ranji Trophy this year. In 8 games, he scored 798 runs at an average of 66.50. Cheteshwar Pujara may have been replaced at number three by Easwaran, who bats for the Bengal squad in the top order.

Is BCCI ignoring the Ranji Trophy?

There have been a few indications that the BCCI chose players based on IPL form rather than Ranji Trophy performances. 2019–20 was Ruturaj Gaikwad’s final Ranji Trophy campaign. In the ensuing two seasons, he did not play. He participated in six games in the 2019–20 season, amassing 439 runs at an average of 39.90. In comparison to Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran, Gaikwad’s Ranji Trophy performance has been fairly subpar. Gaikwad was chosen for the team despite the players’ glaringly different performances, and reliable players like Sarfaraz Khan were once more passed over.

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