Shardul Thakur on Sarfaraz Khan’s lack of Test Cricket, says he does not need India A games to play international cricket’.
Shardul Thakur: ‘Sarfaraz doesn’t need India A game to play international cricket’.
India doesn’t need Sarfaraz Khan. According to Mumbai skipper Shardul Thakur, he may return to the Test team with runs in domestic cricket by going on an exposure tour to play international cricket.
Sarfaraz participated in India’s tour of Australia towards the end of last year, however he has since been excluded from the Test squad. Sarfaraz made his Test debut against England in early 2024. His final Test match was in October 2024, when India was blanked 3-0 at home against New Zealand in Mumbai. Since then, he has travelled to Australia and England with the India A teams, but lately, he was not included in the squad for the India A series against South Africa A.
“Nowadays, for the India A side they look at boys, who they want to prepare for international cricket,” Thakur said in Mumbai ahead of the second round of Ranji Trophy starting on Saturday. “Sarfaraz doesn’t need India A game to play international cricket. If he gets back to scoring again, he can straightaway go and play Test series also.”
“He is coming from injury layoff. But before that, he scored two-three centuries in the Buchi Babu Trophy before getting injured,” Thakur said of Sarfaraz. “Coming back against J&K in the previous match, he had a nice 40 (42). It was very unfortunate to have been run out. But for him, I don’t think playing India A is important. He is a senior pro and whenever we put him in there in the 22 yards, he is someone who always delivers in crunch situations.
“He has big scores of 200-250s and those innings have come when the team was two or three down quite early in the innings. To play that kind of innings under pressure, you have to have something special in you. He is one of the special players who never disappoints to perform and put up big scores. He has done it for years and years. Regardless of which number he bats, I think he will deliver.”