Sarfaraz Khan’s omission from the India A squads to face South Africa A has become a subject of serious political mud-slinging. First things first – Sarfaraz should have been selected for India A. Someone who has such a fantastic domestic record and one who is now fit should have been picked. In fact, his omission is baffling.
Initially, we were told that he is unfit. Once he lost weight and got fitter, it was about his technique and more. Then, it was said that he isn’t capable of scoring overseas. He scored 92 against the England Lions and a hundred in the intra-squad match in England. The point is simple – you cannot claim he will fail overseas, if you don’t even give him the opportunity to do so. As much as everyone else, Sarfaraz deserves the right to fail.
Clearly, there is some other reason, and whatever it is, it has nothing to do with his religion. India’s most valuable player in England was a man named Mohammed Siraj. Much loved and much adored, Siraj is a gem. To say that Sarfaraz is excluded because of his religion is outrageous. Fault the selectors, for sure, but don’t make Indian cricket a communal battleground. It could be a nice subject for a 9pm television debate where anchors hurl abuse at each other, but it is certainly not something that will benefit the sport.
In all of this, Sarfaraz is now a pawn. A pawn in the larger Congress-versus-BJP story. One who is being championed by the AIMIM and Asaduddin Owaisi. Don’t tell me they love Sarfaraz, for we all know what’s going on here. In the India A squad for the second game, the selectors have picked both Mohammed Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed. So while you can indeed question them for their choices, please don’t make things political and suggest that Sarfaraz has been omitted because of his surname.
If you are a journalist and have a nose for news, you will know what could be the real reason. Or at least, have an idea. But the issue is such that you can’t really mention it in the public domain, or write about it without solid evidence.
Suffice to say Sarfaraz is staring at a bleak future. If he can’t make the India A team, which serves as the supply line for the Test squad, he doesn’t have a future in the red-ball game. Not in the immediate future. For someone who has scored thousands of runs at the domestic level, this is a really bitter pill to swallow. More so when you have become the subject of a political slug fest.
We often speak about an athlete’s mental health. Take a pause and think of what Sarfaraz might be going through. What impact could this controversy have on his well-being? Sport is often very cruel and this Sarfaraz issue is a case in point. Despite scoring at an average approaching three digits in domestic cricket in the last few years, he isn’t a part of the India A squad. And he has now being appropriated by political parties for selfish gains. We in the media have a juicy headline. In all this, Sarfaraz Khan, the player who had given his all to play for India, is now lost.
For more such stories, follow RevSportz