BCCI’s announcement of India’s 17-member squad for the first two Tests against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar series lefts fans, experts and veteran cricketers fuming over the absence over Sarfaraz Khan while the logic behind Suryakumar Yadav’s selection in the format was questioned. On Sunday, Sarfaraz, who shares the same dressing room with Suryakumar from domestic matches for Mumbai, ended his silence in the ongoing criticism of the selectors’ call in the India batting star.

What left fans agitated was Sarfaraz’s plethora of runs in Ranji Trophy compared to Suryakumar’s lack of appearances in red-ball cricket. The 25-year-old scored 928 runs at 154.66 in 2019/20 season, 982 runs at 122.75 in 2021/22 season and over 500 runs in the ongoing season at an average of about 92. Suryakumar, on the other hand, did not play a red-ball game in the last three years until his appearance in a Ranji Trophy game last December where he scored a 80-ball 90.

ALSO READ: ‘Umran Malik not as trained or fit as Haris Rauf. He starts at 150kph but drops to 138’: Pakistan great’s daring verdict

When asked about Suryakumar’s selection, by journalist Vimal Kimar, and whether he found it inspirational given the amount of time he had to wait for his India cap, Sarfaraz revealed that they share a good bond and that he gets to learn a lot from his “friend”.

“Obviously it is (on his selection being inspirational). Suryakumar is a good friend of mine. And we spend a lot of time together when we are in the team together. I get to learn a lot of things from him. He had to wait for a long time but the way he has been playing, he has taken on his experience together, so that makes things easy,” he said.

Last week, in an interview with Times of India, Sarfaraz has spoken about his first reaction after the team announcement.

“When the team was announced and my name wasn’t there, I was very sad. Anyone in my place in this world would’ve been sad, because I had expected to be picked, but wasn’t (chosen). Yesterday, I was sad the whole day, when we travelled from Guwahati to Delhi. I was thinking about what and why it happened. I was feeling very lonely. I cried too,” he had said.