Sunil Gavaskar sends ‘Karun Nair’ message to snubbed Sarfaraz Khan: ‘That's why the selectors had to bring him back'

A new generation took over the mantle for Indian cricket on Saturday, with the BCCI appointed Shubman Gill as Test captain ahead of the upcoming five-match Test series in England. The decision comes following Rohit Sharma’s Test retirement, and Virat Kohli followed suit recently. Sunil Gavaskar used Karun Nair as an example, while giving advice to Sarfaraz Khan.

Rishabh Pant has also been named as vice-captain for the Test team. There were some big omissions too, especially the absence of Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Shami and Sarfaraz Khan.

Sunil Gavaskar weighs in on selection decisions

Speaking to India Today, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar had some advice for Sarfaraz, and urged him to take inspiration from the likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Karun Nair. Nair was included in the India squad after sensational domestic performances, and last appeared for India in 2017.

“Even Jaydev played his first Test at a very young age, and then it took 13 years or so to play another Test. He persevered, he went on picking wickets in domestic cricket. Like Unadkat, Karun has kept on scoring big hundreds. That's why the selection committee had to bring him back. A man in form is one of your best bets. He is scoring runs, he also got the experience of County Championships,” he said.

“A very good call to bring him back to Indian cricket.”

Urging Sarfaraz to cement his spot, Gavaskar continued, “It's tough, that's what cricket is all about. When you get opportunities, you have to make sure the place is yours. Even if you score a hundred, you should make sure that you don't go into your next innings thinking you scored a hundred in the previous knock. You have to get your eye in and get those runs again. You must not give anybody a chance to push you out of the team.”

“It's entirely up to you to ensure you cement that spot. You need to keep knocking on the doors and break the doors down.”

“I think it's a tough call because after the tour of Australia, there was no red-ball cricket. Yes, there was the Ranji Trophy, but he was injured. So, he didn't play. There was no way he could show what his form was.”

“You have to be undropabble. We have seen in the past, if a team loses a series, the guys who are 13th, 14th, 15th in the squad get dropped. You have to take your chances,” he added.

Sarfaraz got twin half-centuries in his debut Test, and surged to 150 in Bengaluru as India battled a huge deficit. He averages 37.10 in six Tests, and didn’t feature in Australia at all.

Defending the selection decision, chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed that it was a team management decision, hinting that it was made by Gautam Gambhir and his staff.

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