Chris Gayle Wants Sarfaraz Khan to Be a Part of Indian Squad

Sarfaraz Khan gets support from cricketing icon and old RCB teammate amid selection controversies.

Chris Gayle Wants Sarfaraz Khan to Be a Part of Indian Squad

Sarfaraz Khan and Chris Gayle (via NDTV Sports)

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The talent pool of Indian cricket is undoubtedly massive. The numbers are growing, and many believe that India can field three to four strong teams at one point if it wishes to. One such player that has risen through the talent pool in the country is 27-year-old Sarfaraz Khan.

Khan has scored a plethora of runs in domestic cricket over the years for Mumbai, and many, back then, felt that he should be given a chance in the Indian test team. Khan did get his opportunity in the 2024 England series and impressed everyone with a half century on debut.

Post that series he featured in the New Zealand series and scored an impressive 150. After a string of failures in the following tests, Sarfaraz Khan was not considered in the playing XI for the Australian overseas series.

The fan-favorite Universe Boss, Chris Gayle has played a few seasons in the IPL with Sarfaraz Khan. They both were together in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and then also played for the Punjab Kings for a couple of seasons.

Gayle in a recent interview with Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel was asked who his favorite Indian cricketer is. The West Indies legend wasted no time and dropped Khan’s name. He also followed that up with a strong statement about Khan’s exclusion from the Test team.

Khan was dropped from the Test squad for the England series despite not getting a game in Australia. This didn’t sit well with Gayle. He also addressed the issue of Khan being termed as overweight. Here is what he had to say:

Sarfaraz Khan. I mean, he should be on the Test side. He should be in the Test squad at least, you know, scored a century at home, not in the squad. I saw a post a couple of days ago. He lost weight. The weight wasn’t even, nothing was wrong with his weight or anything. He’s just fine. He was still scoring runs. The man scored triple centuries in first-class cricket. So, if they’re using that against him, that’s sad, you know. They should never use that against him. That youngster should have been a part of the squad 100%

Chris Gayle via. Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube Channel

Khan recently went through an inspirational weight transformation as well to prove his doubters wrong, and Gayle mentioned that as well. Just like the ‘Universe Boss’ many would want Khan to feature in the upcoming India vs. West Indies series at home.

Sarfaraz Khan misses out on India A squad due to unfortunate injury

Amid talk of an India comeback for the upcoming series against the West Indies, Sarfaraz Khan has endured an unfortunate injury. Khan who was expected to get selected for the India A series against Australia A was soon out of contention due to an injury he picked up while playing.

Recently, in the Buchi Babu tournament, Khan scored an incredible century against Haryana. However, that hundred came at a cost. The batter strained his quadriceps and is still recovering from that. Owing to this he won’t be considered for the upcoming India A series.

Sarfaraz Khan playing Test Cricket for India.
Sarfaraz Khan (via MoneyControl)

There have been many fans rooting for Khan’s Test comeback especially after his weight transformation that went viral recently. India’s next Test assignment starts on the 2nd of October against the West Indies. It will be interesting to see whether Khan can get himself fit in time for the matches.

Although his selection in the team despite his fitness is not very much guaranteed. Khan also has new competition in the form of Sai Sudarshan and Karun Nair who had decent outings in England. It will be an intense middle muddle for India, and the team would hope that they can solve it rather quickly.

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