India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has said that the Indian team management feels that Sarfaraz Khan won’t be successful in England. Sarfaraz has been dropped from the Test team for the upcoming tour of England as he failed to find his place in the 18-member squad. Sarfaraz has played six matches so far and scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10 with one hundred and three fifties to his name.
The 27-year-old was training hard for the all-important tour as he had lost ten kg through a strict diet plan. Recently, Pujara also shared his views on Sarfaraz’s snub and said that the lack of faith by the team management in English conditions may have played a key role in his absence from the team.
“The reason he is not in the squad, I feel, is he has been very successful in the Asian conditions or in India. The management feels that he may not be as successful in Australia or in England. And there were some fitness issues in the past. I don’t know about his current fitness. But he has been working hard on his fitness also. So, at this stage, I feel it’s a bit unfortunate. But at the same time, someone like Karun Nair, who has performed really well in domestic cricket, deserved an opportunity,” Pujara was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Meanwhile, the selectors handed a maiden Test call up to Arshdeep Singh as they dropped Mohammed Shami. Karun Nair also made a comeback to the Test team after eight years, following his prolific run in domestic cricket. Nair was in the form of his life as he enjoyed a prolific run in the domestic season. He played a pivotal role in Vidarbha’s triumph in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25, being the fourth-highest run scorer of the season.
He accumulated 863 runs from 16 innings at an average of 53.93, registering four hundreds and two fifties. Apart from him, Sai Sudharsan also earned a maiden Test call-up.