The uproar sparked by Sarfaraz Khan’s India A snub doesn’t seem to be ending soon. The Mumbai batter couldn’t make it to the squads announced by the BCCI to take on South Africa A in Bengaluru. His non-selection
has attracted criticism from the country’s leading politicians, with all of them questioning the national selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar.
Shashi Tharoor is the latest one to join the bandwagon. The member of parliament took to the microblogging site X to express his ‘outrage’. He also congratulated the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw and Karun Nair for scoring centuries in the second round of the ongoing Ranji season.
“This is frankly an outrage. @SarfarazA_54 averages 65-plus in first-class cricket, scored a 50 on Test debut and a 150 in a Test we lost, made 92 in his only tour match in England (and a century in the practice match against the full Indian Test team) — and still finds himself excluded from the selectors’ frame of reference,” Tharoor wrote.
“I am also very glad to see @ajinkyarahane88, @PrithviShaw and @karun126 making runs in the #RanjiTrophy.”
Tharoor further stated that the selectors are too quick to discard proven talent in order to take a punt on ‘potential’.
“Our selectors are too quick to discard proven talent in order to take a punt on “potential”. These are players who have proven themselves over and over again. Runs in domestic cricket must be valued by the selectors, not just the #IPL; otherwise why should anyone bother to play the Ranji?
This is frankly an outrage. @SarfarazA_54 averages 65-plus in first class cricket, scored a 50 on Test debut and a 150 in a Test we lost, made 92 in his only tour match in England (and a century in the practice match against the full Indian Test team) — and still finds himself… https://t.co/gtq1ni03DQ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 29, 2025
Earlier, Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed stirred controversy by questioning whether the Mumbai batter’s non-selection was “because of his surname.”
Sarfaraz, who made his Test debut against England in Rajkot during the 2023-24 season, was part of India’s tour of Australia later that year but hasn’t featured in the Test squad since. The 28-year-old, who last appeared in the Mumbai Test against New Zealand — his sixth overall — was also overlooked for the recent India A series against South Africa A.
(With PTI Inputs)
