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The former Indian cricketers and pundits haven’t got respite after India lost the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 early this week. Coming into the fifth and final Test trailing the series 1-2, Team India could not bounce back and felt the absence of Jasprit Bumrah to the core as Australia comfortably chased the 162-run fourth innings target with crucial contributions from Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Beau Webster.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s form was of concern for the team, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul also could not contribute much despite giving a promising start in the series. However, all has come to rest now, but former India cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar opines that the side should have brought in Sarfaraz Khan seeing others struggle.
Sarfaraz Khan was completely dumped: Sanjay Manjrekar hits at team selection
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar admitted that he was unhappy seeing Sarfaraz Khan warm the benches, despite showing glimpses of his exploits against England. The former cricketer also pointed out how Abhimanyu Easwaran was judged early by people after his performance in the warm-up game. "When we had that chat before the first Test, I said that it shouldn't be as straightforward a decision which Sarfaraz Khan taken away and KL Rahul put in. I think there was a lot of preemption, a lot of people were playing God with Abhimanyu Easwaran and watching him in a warm-up game and thinking that he's not going to be getting a run. I think that's not a good way to look at things because cricket springs you surprises,” he said.
The 59-year-old also stated that the team management should have waited a bit before dropping Sarfaraz for Rahul and should have rewarded the youngster for the runs he has got in the past. "Sarfaraz Khan was rewarded for his tremendous record at the first-class level. He got three 50s and 150, but then got out terribly in the next Test. But then he was completely dumped. I don't think that's quite right," Manjrekar added.
"Even if you feel that Sarfaraz Khan might not succeed on these kinds of pitches, what if he had found a way to get runs, with the third man being his main scoring area? I mean, it was a revelation how he played against England. So let's not try and play God too much, maybe just watch a little bit, be concerned about how they'll shape up at the highest level. But you've got to reward people who've got runs," he concluded.
However, KL Rahul was quite exceptional with bat in the early part of the BGT, showcasing a sound defensive technique to frustrate the Australian bowlers, and ultimately, he scored 276 runs in 10 innings at an average of 30.66 with two fifties, Sarfaraz Khan has so far scored 371 runs from 11 innings at an average of 37.10.
