IND vs ENG: BCCI punished this player by not selecting him! Took revenge for the Australia tour?

IND vs ENG: On May 24, Indian cricket team's chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced Team India for the upcoming five-match Test series against England. This series is special in many ways—on one hand, it will be the first series after the Test retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, while on the other hand, the major changes made in the team remain a topic of discussion.

Shubman Gill captain, Rishabh Pant vice-captain

The command of the Indian team has been handed over to young batsman Shubman Gill. Gill was being considered as the future leader for a long time and now he has been given this responsibility. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who has recently made a brilliant comeback after recovering from injury, has been appointed as the vice-captain. Both the players now have the responsibility of giving a new direction to Indian cricket.

Sarfaraz Khan out of the team, controversy looms

Sarfaraz Khan has suffered the biggest blow from the team selection. Sarfaraz, who was a part of Team India on the Australia tour, has been dropped from the team this time. This decision is being said to have been taken not just on the basis of his performance but also keeping in mind his behavior and alleged indiscipline in the dressing room.

If sources are to be believed, during the Australia tour, news of differences between captain Rohit Sharma and mentor Gautam Gambhir were leaked, which affected the atmosphere of the team. Sarfaraz Khan's name came up behind these leaks, although no official statement was given by the BCCI on this.

Ajit Agarkar's statement and indication

Selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar said on Sarfaraz being dropped from the team, "Sometimes you have to take tough decisions. We know that he scored a century in his debut Test, but after that his performance was not stable." His statement clearly indicates that this decision was not just based on statistics, but team discipline was also an important factor.

Sarfaraz's performance and struggle

Sarfaraz Khan, who has played six Test matches so far, has scored a best score of 150 with one century and three half-centuries. His figures in first-class cricket are very impressive—4593 runs in 54 matches at an average of over 65, including 16 centuries and 14 half-centuries. Despite this, he was not only dropped from the Indian Test team, but was also not bought by any franchise in the IPL 2025 auction.

Recently, Sarfaraz has paid a lot of attention to his fitness and came into the limelight by losing about 10 kg of weight. But it seems that in the current situation, fitness and form alone are not enough—politics and discipline within the team are now playing an important role in selection.

The way forward

Sarfaraz is currently included in the India-A team, but his return to the national team seems difficult at the moment. His career has come to a point where he will not only have to improve his game, but also win back the trust of the team management.