Sarfaraz Khan should’ve been given a chance during India’s tour of Australia, former batter Sanjay Manjrekar has said. Sarfaraz was part of the Indian touring party for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but never really came close to playing any of the five Test matches. While it was initially reported that Sarfaraz could be up against KL Rahul for a spot in the middle order, that quickly changed when the latter returned as an opener in the first Test in the absence of Rohit Sharma.
Sarfaraz has scored three half-centuries and a century in 11 Test innings but also faced criticism for a string of low scores during the home series against New Zealand after making 150 in the second innings of the first Test. India ended up losing that rubber 3-0, making it the first time ever that they had lost a series to New Zealand at home and first time they lost a home Test series at all in over a decade.
“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 said on ESPNCricinfo.
Manjrekar said that regardless of whether Sarfaraz would’ve succeeded in Australia or not, he deserved to get a chance as he has the performances to show for it in domestic and international cricket.
“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 said.
