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The Chetan Sharma-led All India Senior Selection Committee named India's Test squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka on February 19. While Rohit Sharma was appointed as the new red-ball captain and India's premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as his deputy, a few Test veterans like Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were dropped.
Notably, selectors have shown their trust in players like wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Hanuman Vihari to strengthen the middle-order. Meanwhile, India's former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has expressed his dissatisfaction with the team's selection and claimed that not much mind was applied while selecting the players.
The former selector further added that Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sarfaraz Khan should have been rightfully given an opportunity in the two-match series starting March 4.
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"It seems there isn’t application of mind when the team is selected. How can one explain the omission of Ruturaj and Sarfaraz, who are two of the most prolific scorers in the domestic circuit? Looking at the team, a couple of players, though talented, haven’t done much to merit their place in the squad," Vengsarkar said while speaking to the Times of India.
"Let every player earn his place in the team and not take it for granted. Ruturaj and Sarfaraz deserve a place. The selectors are damaging their morale by not selecting them for India," he added.
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The 65-year-old claimed that selectors are damaging the morale of both the players by not giving them a chance at the highest level. Notably, recently, Sarfaraz Khan scored a dazzling 275 during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy 2022 opener at Ahmedabad. While Gaikwad, who is currently in the Indian squad for the T20I series against West Indies, has amassed 1349 runs in FC from 21-matches at an average of 38.54 and strike rate of 50.84, including four centuries. Gaikwad also has 3284 List-A runs from 64 appearances averaging 54.73 at a strike rate of 100.09.
The 1st Test against Sri Lanka will be played at the PCA stadium in Mohali, whereas the second and final game, which is going to be a pink-ball Test, will be contested at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Test Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath, R Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (VC).