"Cannot find answer to Sarfaraz Khan's non-selection" - Former India spinner's big statement on batter's exclusion for South Africa series

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed disappointment over Sarfaraz Khan being left out of India’s Test squad for the upcoming home series against South Africa. The right-handed batter, who has been performing consistently in domestic cricket and has worked on his fitness, was surprisingly omitted when the squad was announced.

Speaking on his show Ash ki Baat, Ashwin said, “I cannot find an answer to Sarfaraz Khan’s non-selection. I am very sad and sorry for him. He has reduced his weight, has scored runs. I really feel sorry for him. This sort of non-selection leads him to think that he has been seen enough and is not wanted. Where will he perform? The doors have been shut.”

The spin legend also highlighted broader concerns regarding India’s selection policy. He pointed out how Sai Sudharsan, who has had a stellar IPL season, was picked ahead of Abhimanyu Easwaran, despite Easwaran’s strong performances in first-class cricket. Susharsan scored 759 runs in IPL 2025 and has already played five Tests, whereas Easwaran has amassed 8,025 runs with 27 hundreds in 106 first-class matches, yet is still waiting for his Test debut.

Ashwin highlights IPL vs domestic dilemma, advises Easwaran to use T20s for India call-up

“IPL has a lot of advantages and disadvantages. See the case of Sai Sudharsan. A fabulous player, but how did he leapfrog Abhimanyu Easwaran? Performance in a tournament for 2-3 months has overshadowed the performance Easwaran has put in over the first-class season. Rewarding domestic performers is always up to the selectors. This is happening only because that player has done well in the IPL,” Ashwin said.

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Building on this, Ashwin advised Easwaran to consider T20 cricket as a route to India selection. “If I was Easwaran, I would tell him to somehow find a way to play the T20 format and score 400 runs in an IPL season so that he can also come in. It is a sad state. Some stalwarts of red-ball cricket do not get enough recognition,” he added.

Easwaran, a right-handed batter, has played 34 T20s, scoring 976 runs at an average of 37.53 with a strike rate of 128.59, including one century and five half-centuries. However, he last featured in T20 cricket in 2023 and has not played in the IPL since then, focusing mainly on List-A and first-class formats.

Ashwin’s comments have sparked debate over balancing domestic cricket performance with IPL success when selecting players for India’s red-ball squad.