ENG vs IND 2025: Ajit Agarkar justifies snubbing Sarfaraz Khan for 'experienced' Karun Nair

Head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, addressed the reasoning behind Sarfaraz Khan's exclusion from India's 18-member squad for the upcoming five-match series against England. Sarfaraz, who last represented the nation in the home series against New Zealand last year, was anticipated to be included in the squad as far as the middle-order is concerned.   

Agarkar attributed the like-for-like replacement with Karun Nair to his enhanced performances and experience with the red ball. He labelled the dropping of Sarfaraz to be a call taken by the team management, and also hoped Karun would be able to fill in the recently-retired Virat Kohli's shoes.

"Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test (150 vs New Zealand in Bengaluru) and then didn't get runs. Sometimes, it's the decisions the team management takes. At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we're lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help," stated Agarkar during the press conference in Mumbai.

Sarfaraz was recently discovered to be grinding it out with his father-cum-coach, Naushad Khan. The duo had been working hard on Sarfaraz's batting technique in addition to his fitness. The youngster had been understood to have shed a whopping 10 kilos of body weight with a strict diet of boiled vegetables and chicken. He was particularly working on tackling deliveries delivered outside the off stump for several hours on a daily basis, however, he has been ignored by the All India Men's Senior Selection Committee for the flight to the UK.

Agarkar on Iyer’s Test exclusion

Also Read

Agarkar on Iyer’s Test exclusion

As far as Karun Nair is concerned, this was the first time he was shortlisted by the BCCI for a Test after more than an eight-year hiatus from the squad. He last donned the Indian whites in March 2017. He was most likely considered by the selection committee due to the immense success he racked up in the domestic cricketing scene in the past couple of years.