Sarfaraz Khan gets maiden India call-up as KL Rahul & Ravindra Jadeja are ruled out of Visakhapatnam Test against England
Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan has finally received his maiden India call-up as the hosts have named reinforcements for injuries to Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul during the first Test against England in Hyderabad.
The BCCI on Monday (January 29) announced that both Jadeja and Rahul will not be available for selection for the second Test of the series in Visakhapatnam. Jadeja appeared to have pulled his hamstring as he was run out by Ben Stokes on Day 4 of the Hyderabad Test.
However, even Rahul has been ruled out as the board claimed that the player has pain in his right quadriceps.
Here's what a part of the media release read:
"Jadeja sustained a hamstring injury during play on Day 4 of the first Test in Hyderabad while Rahul complained of a right quadriceps pain. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring the progress of the duo. The Men's Selection Committee have added Sarfaraz Khan, Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar to India's squad."
Alongside Sarfaraz, India have also added spin-bowling all-rounders Washington Sundar and Saurabh Kumar to the squad.
India's squad for 2nd Test: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar.
Sarfaraz Khan was finally rewarded for his domestic performances
Sarfaraz Khan has been scoring runs almost for fun in domestic cricket and his exclusion over the past couple of years raised quite a few eyebrows. He will be delighted that after months of perseverance, he has finally made it to the Indian Test squad.
It will be interesting to see who between him and Rajat Patidar gets to replace KL Rahul. Replacing Virat Kohli at No. 4, Rahul looked solid in Hyderabad and it is certainly a blow for the hosts.
India might arguably miss Ravindra Jadeja more because of the experience and balance that he brings to the side. However, Washington Sundar has proved in the past that if given an opportunity, he has the quality needed to be a successful Test all-rounder.