Sunil Gavaskar Drops Sarfaraz Khan, Karun Nair Hint In Clear Selection Message To Gambhir, Agarkar

The Indian cricket team delivered a performance far below its reputation in the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata, culminating in a heavy defeat. The team's batting was particularly poor across both innings, where the entire order crumbled in a remarkably similar manner, with not a single batter managing to register a half-century. While the challenging nature of the pitch was widely criticised, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar firmly believes the result stems from the selected players' lack of experience on domestic wickets.

In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar sent a pointed, though subtly phrased, message to the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee, asking them to prioritise players who have demonstrated proficiency by performing on the kind of crumbling wickets seen at Eden Gardens.

He wrote: "The defeat to South Africa will hopefully open the eyes of those who matter to look at the heavy scorers in domestic cricket, who are used to playing on pitches where the ball spins and keeps low. The international players are so busy playing overseas that they do not have practice playing on domestic pitches, and so are found wanting." 

This commentary arrives as consistent domestic performers such as Sarfaraz Khan and Karun Nair, whose unmatched form previously led to national call-ups, were notably excluded from both the recent West Indies series and the ongoing South Africa assignment at home.

Gavaskar argues that the current players selected for the Proteas series lack the experience or patience necessary to perform effectively on challenging home wickets, prompting him to urge the BCCI selection committee to adopt an alternative approach. 

He specified the demands of the format: "Test batting demands patience and, more importantly, the willingness to leave your ego in the changing room. It does not matter if you get beaten and rapped on the leg guards. You do not have to try and tonk the ball out of the ground to show who is the boss. The only boss is the one who stays humble and accepts that at this level, the bowler will beat you, and so waits a bit till the scoreable ball comes along."

Additionally, Gavaskar sent a loud and clear message to India head coach Gautam Gambhir, suggesting he must move on from an over-reliance on part-time all-rounders.

He stressed the importance of definition: "India also needs to understand the difference between a Test all-rounder and a limited-overs all-rounder. A genuine Test all-rounder is someone who could make the eleven solely as a batter or as a bowler. A player who only offers a few overs or a few runs is not what Test cricket demands. A proper batter who can chip in with the ball is fine, just as a regular bowler who can hold up an end with the bat is valuable. But selecting a player who would not make the side purely as a batter or as a bowler might work in the short term, yet it does not add real value," Gavaskar wrote. 

Gavaskar concluded by warning that clarity regarding the requirements for the different formats is essential, particularly because "After this South Africa series, India will not play a home Test for over a year. All the more reason that there is clarity about the difference between Tests and limited-overs games, and about the requirements for the different formats. If not, India could miss the World Test Championship final again, just as they did this June."

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Gautam Gambhir Sunil Gavaskar Sarfaraz Khan Karun Nair India vs South Africa 2025, India Ajit Agarkar Cricket