Sarfaraz Khan finds himself sidelined from the Indian team since the 0-3 sweep at the hands of New Zealand at home last year, despite undergoing a physical transformation recently and having a decent run with the bat in domestic cricket all this while.
The BCCI’s announcement of the India A squad for the upcoming four-day games against South Africa A in Bengaluru became a cause for celebration for Rishabh Pant’s fans with the
wicketkeeper-batter set to make his comeback from a toe injury in the upcoming series.
Indian cricket fans, however, couldn’t help but notice something else when it came to the India A squad – that while seniors such as KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj have been included, there was no place for out-of-favour middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan.
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Sarfaraz had struck a half-century on India debut against England in Rajkot last year and had also scored 150 against New Zealand in Bengaluru later this year. The Mumbai batter, however, was sidelined after India’s historic 0-3 whitewash against the Black Caps.
Sarfaraz remains excluded despite physical transformation
While he was included in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Sarfaraz was not picked for a single match. And he was later ignored completely for the five-match Test series in England for the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy as well as for the two-match series against West Indies at home earlier this month.
Sarfaraz had recently undergone a rapid physical transformation after being instructed to work on his fitness, having lost nearly 17 kilograms by following a strict diet and exercise routine. The transformation, however, hardly appeared to have an impact on the selectors.
Not only has he been sidelined from the national team, Sarfaraz is also struggling to find a place in the India A team, having been ignored for the two unofficial Tests against Australia A last month as well as for the upcoming series against South Africa A.
Here are some of the reactions to Sarfaraz’s latest snub on microblogging platform X:
I am a little surprised with the continued absence of Sarfaraz Khan – even from the India A system now, not being named in the two India A Tests vs South Africa A
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) October 21, 2025
Sarfaraz Khan deserves to play for at least India A.
— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) October 21, 2025
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I certainly don’t understand how Sarfaraz Khan can’t even make it to the India ‘A’ squad! Earlier, people used to say fitness and all but what now? What more does he have to do to make a case for himself. Just bonkers! #INDAvsSA
— Mohsin Kamal (@64MohsinKamal) October 21, 2025
If anyone should feel letdown on being wrongly treated by Indian cricket, the selectors or the management, it’s Sarfaraz Khan, man has done everything from scoring runs to getting back in shape, yet ain’t even considered worthy of A games!!
Keep piling on runs man!!
— Gagan Chawla (@toecrushrzzz) October 21, 2025
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Feel for Sarfaraz Khan…!!!!!
He played in the England tour for India A team, scored 92 runs in first unofficial match but then out of the picture due to injury – improved his fitness, lost lots weight returned to Ranji Trophy (made important 74 runs) but no place in the… pic.twitter.com/cLnMWBipcA
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 21, 2025
Meet Sarfaraz Khan:
– he avg 65+ in FC,
– he did great vs Eng in his debit series when India were 0-1 down,
– he scored 150 runs 2 tests ago,
– reduced 17 kg weight
– passed yoyo testNot picked for Ind-A, another career destroyed by Agarkar & Gambhir!!pic.twitter.com/W6BnG7cceJ
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) October 21, 2025
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Sarfaraz Khan doesn’t fit into India A side for Tests. Let that sink in pic.twitter.com/PtHpjmnXR1
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) October 21, 2025
Selection criteria for Sarfaraz Khan is to bat on one leg without holding a bat and score a hundred, that too with at least 80 singles and not more than 2 boundaries.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) October 21, 2025
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Pant, who had been sidelined ever since he
suffered a fractured toe while attempting to reverse sweep a searing yorker from Chris Woakes, has been named captain for the two red-ball matches against South Africa A.
BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru will be hosting the matches that start on 30 October and 6 November respectively and serves as a precursor to the upcoming two-Test series between India and South Africa that gets underway on 14 November in Kolkata.
Rahul and Siraj have been picked for the second unofficial match along with pacers Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep as well as opener Abhimanyu Easwaran. Other reserve and fringe players such as Anshul Kamboj, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, etc have also been picked for the series – either for both games or one of them.
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Top-order batter B Sai Sudharsan, meanwhile, has been named vice-captain for both games.
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