Former wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta shared his thoughts on the selection of Sarfaraz Khan in the Indian squad for the second Test against England. Dasgupta acknowledged Sarfaraz’s consistent performance, particularly highlighting his recent standout performance in the unofficial Test series against England Lions, where he earned the Player of the Match award for his impressive century.
While appreciating Sarfaraz’s form, Dasgupta raised important questions about player selection, emphasizing the need to consider the quality of runs and the teams against whom they are scored. He noted that the challenge lies in choosing the playing XI from a pool of talented players.
“Credit to him that he has been in good form for the last two to three years. He scored runs recently against England A as well. He was performing consistently, but there were two questions,” said Deep Dasgupta on his YouTube channel.
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“The biggest question was in place of whom. We say very easily that this or that player should be there, but only 11 can play, and the squad can have only 15 or 16. Secondly, there was also this question and I have heard it from a few people that where are the runs in big matches,” he added.
Deep Dasgupta emphasized the importance of considering the quality of runs, pointing out that in first-class cricket, teams vary in quality, and the significance of runs against top-quality opponents cannot be overlooked.
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“When people talk about first-class cricket, with all due respect, you have 37 teams. You are also playing against some very average teams. I shouldn’t be saying this, it will be disrespectful to some of the teams, but quality of runs is also important. I am not saying this against Sarfaraz,” Deep Dasgupta concluded.
In 45 first-class matches, Sarfaraz Khan has amassed 3912 runs at an impressive average of 69.85, with 14 centuries and 11 fifties to his name.
