Former India player Mohammad Kaif has shared that while the visitors may opt for Dhruv Jurel, he would name Sarfaraz Khan in the playing XI for the opening Test against Sri Lanka. The Test will start on August 15 in Galle. Sarfaraz, who was not part of the original squad, has been added as a replacement for the injured Sai Sudharsan as well.

Kaif said on his YouTube channel (Mohammad Kaif),  “If they follow the trend of backing the players who have already been playing for the team, then they might say, ‘Jurel has been with us already. He hasn’t scored consistently, but we will back him because he has already been part of the team.’ If that is the approach, then Sarfaraz will have to wait. But if you ask me what the best XI is, Sarfaraz’s name comes into my best XI because of his ability to play spin at No. 5 or No. 6. His record against spin is excellent.”

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“He also has a wide range of shots. When you get to the fourth or fifth day, batting becomes more difficult, and that is where a player like Sarfaraz Khan can be very useful. Players like him are very good at playing the field. He knows how to use sweeps and reverse sweeps effectively. He can hit over extra cover, he is good off the back foot and he attacks spin,” he again stated.

However, Mohammad Kaif shared that Dhruv Jurel’s recent performances have not been particularly great, with the
wicketkeeper-batter scoring only 18 runs across two innings in the warm-up game against SLC XI. Looking at his numbers from his last 10 Test innings, he has scored 276 runs at an average of 30.67, including one century as well.

“Look, I can understand that India have played well, but Jurel’s recent Test record and form haven’t been that great. Whether you talk about the innings against Afghanistan or the game against South Africa, he got out there as well. Even before that, he wasn’t scoring runs consistently. There were five or six innings where he didn’t get a substantial score,” Mohammad Kaif concluded.