Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed his disappointment over the exclusion of Sarfaraz Khan from India A’s squad for the upcoming red-ball series against South Africa A. In a video on his YouTube channel, Ashwin criticized the national selectors for their “lack of communication” and described India A’s selection process as full of “confusion”.
Decision of the selection committee k omit Sarfaraz Khan from the India A team has reignited the debate over the perceived unfair treatment of one of domestic cricket’s most consistent performers, with many questioning whether the prolific Mumbai batter is even being considered for the other side.
It has been a year since Sarfaraz last represented India, having not featured in the playing eleven since his stunning 150 against New Zealand in Bengaluru during the home Test series. He was benched for the entire five-match Test series in Australia last winter and missed out on selection for the England tour as well as the recent two-match series against the West Indies.
Sarfaraz made his Test debut against England last year when he scored fifties in both innings. He amassed 371 runs in six Tests, including a century in the November 2024 series against New Zealand. However, his form dipped in the last two outings and he managed just 21 runs, including a duck, before being picked for the Australian tour. Even then, opportunities were limited, with Sarfaraz barely getting to bat at times in practice.
The national selectors announced two separate India A teams for red ball matches against South Africa A in Bengaluru, both led by the returning Rishabh Pant, with B Sai Sudharsan as his deputy. Despite consistent domestic performances and shedding nearly 17kg to meet the fitness requirements, Sarfaraz continues to remain on the sidelines.
“The problem is that your communication and selection should match. I remember Subramaniam Badrinath played for the India A team and was also the captain for a long time, but he was not selected. The same thing happened to Manoj Tiwary. The communication that went through was that ‘we have seen enough of you and now we want to look at new faces. So you will not play for the A team anymore, we will play for the Indian team, but we will play for the Indian team. you,” Ashwin said.
He added: “But if you look at the current India A side, there is a bit of confusion. If you say we have seen enough of Sarfaraz in India A and only if we need him, we will pick him in the India side, then it will be wrong. Because you have picked Abhimanyu Easwaran and he has played enough for India A. However, apart from those cases, the rest are all futuristic Mansh and Haretav.”
Ashwin sympathized with Sarfaraz, especially as the batsman struggled to improve his fitness and form, and admitted he would have struggled to justify the exclusion if he had been the selector.
“But when I look at Sarfaraz’s non-selection, I don’t get any explanation. I’m very sad and I feel sorry for him. If I was a selector, what would I call him and say? He cut weight and scored runs; he also scored a century in his last Test series. And that kind of non-selection makes me think we don’t want to see him anymore, so we haven’t seen enough of him. I want to go in that direction.
“If I was Sarfaraz Khan, that’s what I’d think. He’s been dropped from the India A side. It’s literally like the door has closed. Where is he going to play? Now that he’s playing well in first-class cricket, they’re going to say he’s very good only for first-class cricket. So now he’s not going to be picked for India A. Where will he go? feels like someone’s decision, whether it’s management or selection, that he’s already we don’t watch.’
The two unofficial Tests against South Africa A are scheduled to begin on October 30 and November 6 at the BCCI Center of Excellence in Bengaluru.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
October 22, 2025
