‘Suryakumar ahead of Sarfaraz in Tests is insult’: Fans baffled over India squad selection for Australia series

On Friday, the BCCI announced the India team for the first two Tests of the four-match series against Australia. Notably, the governing body of cricket announced the squad for the upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand, which will begin on January 18 before India hosts Australia in the longest format. Prithvi Shaw was recalled to the side for the New Zealand T20Is after an excellent domestic run, while Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan were given their first Test calls.

Fans railed against the selection committee for choosing Suryakumar Yadav over Sarfaraz Khan for the first two Australia Test matches.

Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant, who was recently involved in a near-fatal road accident, will miss out because he is recovering from his injuries. Jasprit Bumrah is also not included in the squad for the first two Tests because he is still not fully recovered from back problems. In Pant's place, Ishan Kishan has been named as the wicketkeeper and batter, with KS Bharat also included in the squad.

Sarfaraz scored 982 runs at an average of 122.75 in the 2021–22 Ranji Trophy, including four centuries and two half-centuries. His best mark was 275. In the meantime, he has amassed 431 runs in the current edition, scoring two centuries and one half-century while maintaining a strike rate of 70.54 and an average of 107.75.

Suryakumar Yadav, however, was given a chance to join India's Test squad due to the player's outstanding performance in white-ball formats, particularly T20I cricket.

Suryakumar Yadav has a first-class average of 44.75 and a strike rate of 63.56. Sarfaraz, on the other hand, has an average of 80.47 and a strike rate of 69.89. Clearly, Sarfaraz could have been the ideal choice even if the selectors had wanted to choose a middle order batsman who could score runs quickly like Pant.

However, it has not been well received by the fans. Here's how they responded to the selection: