"Ruturaj and Sarfaraz deserve a place" - Dilip Vengsarkar unimpressed with India's Test squad selection

Former Indian chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sarfaraz Khan deserved a spot in the Test squad to face Sri Lanka. The former specialist batter thinks the selectors have done injustice to their talent by ignoring them.

Sarfaraz Khan, the Mumbai batter, scored a blazing double hundred in the side's first game of the ongoing Ranji Trophy. The right-handed batter made 275 from 401 deliveries against Saurashtra at Ahmedabad, clobbering 30 fours and seven sixes.

Test squad - Rohit Sharma (C), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath, R Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (VC).

Speaking to the Times of India, Dilip Vengsarkar thought it hardly made sense to overlook Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sarfaraz Khan, given their exploits in domestic cricket. The 65-year old also stated that the players have a better case for selection than those chosen.

"It seems there isn't application of mind when the team is selected. How can one explain the omission of Ruturaj and Sarfaraz, who are two of the most prolific scorers in the domestic circuit? Looking at the team, a couple of players, though talented, haven't done much to merit their place in the squad. Let every player earn his place in the team and not take it for granted. Ruturaj and Sarfaraz deserve a place. The selectors are damaging their morale by not selecting them for India."

It's worth noting that Khan averages an extraordinary 67.30 in 19 first-class games, scoring 1548 runs with four centuries. The 24-year old was the fifth-highest run-getter in the 2019-20 edition of the Ranji Trophy with 928 runs.

Rohit Sharma succeeds Virat Kohli as India's Test captain

India's 18-man Test squad announced on Saturday has three uncapped players, namely Priyank Panchal, KS Bharath and Sourabh Kumar. Chief selector Chetan Sharma announced Rohit Sharma as the new Test captain for his excellent job as the white-ball skipper.

🗣️🗣️ "We will groom future captains under him."

The Chairman of the All-India Senior Selection Committee, Mr. Chetan Sharma, spoke about @ImRo45 being named the #TeamIndia 🇮🇳 Test Captain. https://t.co/SPaJvFMVEO

Sharma also announced that the squad has no place for Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane - both of whom have seen their form dip in the last few months. However, the former fast bowler stated that the door is open for the duo, provided they score well in domestic cricket.

Sri Lanka's visit starts with a three-match T20 series on the 24th of February, followed by two Tests.