Former India chief selector Vengsarkar feels Mumbai batters Iyer, Khan should’ve been in Test squad for their experience, form; ex-national selector Bhave echoes similar opinion
Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer during the Ranji Trophy match against Odisha at the MCA-BKC ground last year. PIC/Atul Kamble
Former India chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar expressed his surprise at Mumbai’s middle-order Test batters Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan being ignored for the upcoming five-Test England tour. Young batter Shubman Gill-led India team will begin their England series with the opening Test at Leeds on June 20. Iyer, 30, represented the country in 14 Tests, scoring 811 runs with the help of one century and five half-centuries. Iyer was also part of the Jasprit Bumrah-led team in the 2022 Birmingham Test in which he scored 15 and 19 respectively.
Sarfaraz, 27, who featured in six Test scoring 371 runs has one century and three half-centuries under his belt. “Shreyas and Sarfaraz should have been in India’s Test squad for the England tour. It’s surprising to know they both are not selected. Both are experienced batters. Sarfaraz played a very good knock [of 56] against England in the Dharamsala Test where he and [Devdutt] Padikkal played an important session quite well while facing pacers like James Anderson and other pacer [Mark Wood]. I was there in Dharamsala then and watched Sarfaraz,” Vengsarkar told Sunday mid-day.
Sarfaraz Khan
Iyer scored 480 runs in five Ranji Trophy games last season (2024-25) which included two centuries. Vengsarkar said: “Both are good cricketers, but the selection committee’s view point is different. They must have thought quite a lot and picked the side. Now, you have to back the players who have been picked in the team and I hope India does extremely well in the England tour where we are playing five Tests. It’s a very important tour for all our young cricketers. I hope they grab this opportunity with both hands.”
Pleased with Thakur’s return
Vengsarkar, a 116-Test veteran, who was the only overseas batsman to score three consecutive Test centuries at Lord’s, reckoned that Mumbai bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur deserves a comeback to the Test team. Thakur got rewarded for his performance in the same 2024-25 Ranji season where he scored 505 runs in nine games and claimed 35 wickets. “Shardul has always played for Mumbai in domestic cricket wherever there is an opportunity. He always did extremely well and has performed at crucial junctures every time, so I am very happy that Shardul is back in the team. He will be a useful player in the England tour,” Vengsarkar remarked.
Dilip Vengsarkar and Surendra Bhave
Meanwhile, former national selector Surendra Bhave also echoed Vengsarkar’s feeling. “With the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Shreyas’s experience of playing 14 Tests would have come handy in the England tour. Yes, we need to give preference to the youngsters, but he is a Test batter who has experience while batting in the middle-order, would have been a good choice,” Bhave told Sunday mid-day over the phone from Pune.
Bhave, a former Maharashtra top-order batter and captain added: “He [Shreyas] has performed well in domestic cricket recently and also scored a century in Tests. So, in case the middle-order fails, you have that Shreyas option in the squad. I feel Shreyas has played abroad very less [five Tests], which is surprising, and that might have gone against him as he is yet to score overseas. “I think Karun Nair totally deserved a place in the Test team. And right now, Sai Sudharsan, who possesses clean footwork, looks like an all-format player.”
Sarfaraz’s fitness, a concern
When asked about Sarfaraz’s omission, Bhave felt his fitness might go against the Mumbai batter. “He [Sarfaraz] has his limitations, but he is a heavy scorer and capable of scoring big runs. Whether the fitness part is going against him, I don’t know, but his recent pictures show that he has lost weight. “So it is good for him. He has to present himself in a fit manner for a complete year and not to lose weight for two months. When you are a professional cricketer, you should present yourself in your fittest form all the time. Sometimes a lot of weight loss also makes you lose balance while batting. I think he should continue on the same path and maintain such fitness for the next couple of years. That will help him get another opportunity in the future,” Bhave signed off.
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