The maiden Test century by Sarfaraz Khan on Day 4 of the 1st test between India and New Zealand started a debate regarding his selection for the Indian national cricket team. A lot of fans and experts went on to social media to express their gratitude and support for Sarfaraz, while referring to an old statement by Sunil Gavaskar about his potential.
Sarfaraz has given consistent performance in domestic cricket for a continuous number of years, but him being selected in the national team has not been regular. Even after his impressive stats, Sarfaraz often faced criticism as he could not regularly make the cut.
Amongst all this debate and criticism, a statement by Sunil Gavaskar, which was made by him last year, has come back to the surface where he has made some sarcastic comments towards the selectors.
“If you are looking for only slim and trim guys, then might as well go to a fashion show and find some other models and give a bat and ball in their hands and then improve them. That’s not the way cricket goes. You have cricketers in all shapes and sizes. Don’t go by the size, go by the scores or wickets. He is not staying off the field when he scores a hundred. He is back on the field again. So, all that tells you is that the man is fit,” Gavaskar had said last year according to India Today.
“How can you score runs? I think at the end of the day if you are unfit, you aren’t gonna score hundreds. Cricket fitness is the most important thing. Yo-Yo Test can’t be the only criterion. You got to make sure that the man is cricket fit as well. If the person, whoever it is, is cricket fit, then I don’t think it should be any matter,” he had added.
