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Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim has struck Gautam Gambhir and the Indian team management for not giving opportunities to Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Karim believes Sarfaraz and Easwaran have played a fair amount of domestic cricket and are ready to play Test cricket. Both players were in India’s squad for the Test series against Australia but failed to get a match.
While Sarfaraz has already made his debut for India, Easwaran is yet to play an international match. Easwaran was in line to make his Test debut before the series when Rohit Sharma was absent for the first Test. However, the Indian team management chose KL Rahul as the opener to partner Yashasvi Jaiswal.
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Gautam Gambhir criticized by Saba Karim for not giving opportunities to Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran
While talking to Sportstar, Saba Karim was disappointed with the way Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran have been treated by the management of the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian team. He believes that these players have done well in domestic cricket and India A, which makes them deserving of Test cricket.
“It’s very discouraging because one is prepared to face numerous challenges, but this is something that is out of one’s control. That’s how I see it. I seriously believe that domestic cricketers should be rewarded,” Karim said.
“And here, we are not just talking about domestic cricketers, but players who have done well while representing India A in the past, which means they have been tested multiple times, and that is why you have taken them as part of .of the Test team,” he added.
Saba Karim hits out at selectors
Saba Karim further criticized the selectors for picking these players despite not considering them good enough to play. He called on voters to pass judgment without giving these players a fair chance.
“Logically, it makes sense to give them a chance whenever there is a chance. I find it strange that these two cricketers who are part of the squad were not even considered for selection. If that was the case, then why did you choose them in the first place? argued the former India wicketkeeper.
“If you weren’t sure of their technical expertise to do well in Australia, you should have taken someone else very well. I strongly believe that without testing them in these conditions, how can we decide that they are not good enough for these conditions?” he asked
While KL Rahul was picked over Abhimanyu Easwaran based on his previous experience of playing for Australia, India chose the young all-rounder. Nitish Kumar Reddy instead of Sarfaraz Khan. Reddy emerged as one of the finds of the series as he shone with the bat and played some outstanding knocks under pressure.
“Tough on Abhimanyu and Sarfaraz” – Saba Karim
Saba Karim called the selection decision tough with Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan. He has reminded the selectors of Sarfaraz’s knock against New Zealand in Bangalore in which he scored a magnificent hundred under pressure.
“It has been tough on Abhimanyu (Easwaran) and Sarfaraz (Khan). Sarfaraz had two Test matches before he got to his hundred in Bangalore, where the rest of the team struggled, except for Rishabh pants” explained Karim.
“And after that, he played two Test matches and both matches were in-order. Forget Sarfaraz, none of the other Indian batsmen scored runs. So with that in mind, I don’t understand this decision,” he added. .
Both Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran have scored many runs in first-class cricket and have also been regulars for India A. Sarfaraz has scored 4593 runs in 54 matches at an average of 65.61 with 16 hundreds and 14 fifties.
Sarfaraz Khan has played six Tests and scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10. On the other hand, Abhimanyu Easwaran has scored 7674 runs in 101 matches at an average of 48.87 with 27 hundreds and 29 fifties.
