Disheartening! Gautam Gambhir brutally criticized for not giving chances to Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran
Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim criticized Gautam Gambhir and the Indian team management for not giving chances to Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Karim feels that Sarfaraz and Easwaran have played a lot of domestic cricket and are ready to play Test cricket. Both these players were in the Indian squad for the Test series against Australia but did not win the match.
While Sarfaraz has already made his debut in 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 opening partner to Yashasvi Jaiswal.
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Saba Karim criticizes Gautam Gambhir for not giving chances to Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran
While talking to Sportstar, Saba Karim was disappointed with the way Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran were treated by Gautam Gambhir-led Indian team management. He believes that these players have performed well in domestic cricket and India A, which makes them deserving of Test cricket.
“It’s very disheartening because one is prepared to face many challenges, but it’s something that is out of their control. That’s how I look at it. I seriously believe that local cricketers should be rewarded,” said Karim.
“And here we are not just talking about domestic cricketers but players who have been good 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 the Test team,” he added.
Saba Karim attacked the selectors
Saba Karim further lashed out at the selectors for selecting these players despite not considering them good enough to play. He called out the selectors for making a decision and not giving those players a real chance.
“Logically, it makes sense to give them a chance whenever the opportunity arises. I find it strange that these two cricketers who are part of the team were not even considered for selection. If that was the case, why did you pick them in the first place?” claimed the former India goalkeeper.
“If you weren’t confident in their technical expertise to do well in Australia, then you should have taken someone else. I feel strongly that without trying them in those conditions, how can we decide that they are not good enough for those conditions?” he asked.
While KL Rahul was picked over Abhimanyu Easwaran based on his previous experience playing in Australia, India picked young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy over Sarfaraz Khan. Reddy emerged as one of the revelations of the series as he shone with the bat and played some outstanding shots under pressure.
“Tough on Abhimanyu and Sarfaraz” – Saba Karim
Saba Karim called the selection decision quite harsh on Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan. He reminded the selectors of Sarfaraz’s knock against New Zealand in Bengaluru where he scored a magnificent hundred under pressure.
“It was harsh on Abhimanyu (Easwaran) and Sarfaraz (Khan). “Sarfaraz had two Test matches before he got to his hundred in Bengaluru where the rest of the team struggled, barring Rishabh Pant,” explained Karim.
“And after that, he played two Test matches and both the matches were on the upswing. Forget Sarfaraz, none of the other Indian batsmen scored runs. So, keeping 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 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 played six Tests and scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10. On the other hand, Abhimanyu Easwaran scored 7674 runs in 101 matches at an average of 48.87 with 27 hundreds and 29 fifties.
