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Veteran Indian cricketer shares his opinion on Sarfaraz Khan’s exclusion from India’s Test squad

Monday, 26-May-2025
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Veteran Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara has spoken on the exclusion of Sarfaraz Khan from India’s 18-member squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against England, beginning in June. India announced their squad for the series, with Shubman Gill being named India’s new Test captain. BCCI unveiled a new-look squad following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the longest format of the game.

Meanwhile, Sarfaraz’s snub came as a huge surprise considering his involvement in India’s red-ball setup over the past few months. He was also part of India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but didn’t feature in a single match. Sharing his opinion on Sarfaraz’s exclusion, Pujara opined that Sarfaraz wasn’t included in the squad because selectors felt that he might not be successful in overseas conditions.

"The reason he is not in the squad, I feel, is he has been very successful in the Asian conditions or in India. The management feels that he may not be as successful in Australia or in England. And there were some fitness issues in the past. I don't know about his current fitness. But he has been working hard on his fitness also. So, at this stage, I feel it's a bit unfortunate. But at the same time, someone like Karun Nair, who has performed really well in domestic cricket, deserved an opportunity," Pujara told Hindustan Times.

Selectors, meanwhile, roped in Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair in the squad following their impressive performance in domestic and IPL cricket. India will lock horns with England in the first Test of the five-match series on June 20 at Headingley.

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