Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan marked his birthday on Wednesday amid muted celebrations, as controversy flared over his continued exclusion from India’s cricket squads after Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed accused head coach Gautam Gambhir of religious bias in the player’s non-selection.
"Is Sarfaraz Khan not selected because of his surname ! #justasking . We know where Gautam Gambhir stands on that matter," Mohamed asked on X, referencing Gambhir’s political stint with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Gautam Gambhir, who won the East Delhi seat on a BJP ticket in 2019, chose not to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. A month after the results, he was appointed head coach of the Indian cricket team.
The decision to leave Sarfaraz out of the India A squad on Tuesday reignited questions over whether one of domestic cricket’s most consistent performers is being deliberately sidelined.
On Tuesday, Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), wrote on X: "Why isn’t Sarfaraz Khan selected even for India A?"
AIMIM spokesperson Waris Pathan told India Today, "When a man is averaging so much, there's definitely more to it. Why hasn't he been picked?"
Mohsin Raza, former minorities welfare minister in Uttar Pradesh, pushed back against claims of bias, saying, "No need to politicise this. Playing with cricketers' future, these so-called Muslim leaders. Shami plays, Siraj plays. This is unfair."
Sarfaraz last played for India in the home series against New Zealand in November 2024 and was overlooked for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Despite a physical transformation, he wasn’t picked for the England tour or the home series against the West Indies. Fans were shocked when he was excluded from the India A squad for the series against South Africa A.
Journalist Ayaz Memon called Sarfaraz’s India A exclusion "bewildering" and demanded clarity: "He’s been a prolific run-getter in FC cricket & showed rich promise in his brief Test career as yet. Selectors Ajit Agarkar & Co must clarify the rationale behind Sarfaraz’s exclusion."
Selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar pointed to injuries as the reason for Sarfaraz missing the home series against the West Indies, citing his absence from the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup due to a quadriceps injury.
The decision to pick Karun Nair over Sarfaraz for the England Tests further fuelled debate.
Agarkar defended it, saying: "Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test (against New Zealand) and then didn't get runs. Sometimes these are decisions the team management takes. At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic cricket, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we're lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help."