When the BCCI selectors announced India’s Test squad for the England tour last month, Sarfaraz Khan was one of the notable omissions.

Having made his debut in 2024, Sarfaraz has played six Test matches for India so far, scoring 371 runs at an average of 37.10, including one hundred and three half-centuries. His only ton so far came against New Zealand in the first Test at Bengaluru as he slammed a magnificent 150 in a losing cause.

However, the Mumbai batter failed in the remainder of the home series, which India lost 3-0. Subsequently, he didn’t get a chance to play a Test match on the tour of Australia.

For the England tour, Sarfaraz was completely ignore as the selectors brought back Karun Nair to the Test fold after seven years while Sai Sudharsan has received his maiden Test call-up.

Despite the setback, Sarfaraz Khan is strengthening his reputation in English conditions by performing well for India ‘A’ in the ongoing tour.

The 27-year-old recently scored 92 in an unofficial Test match against England Lions in Canterbury, and followed it with a blazing 76-ball 101 against the senior Indian team in an intra-squad fixture in Beckenham.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra opined that Sarfaraz Khan was hard done by BCCI selectors.

"Sarfaraz Khan hasn't done anything wrong thus far. In fact, he hasn't done anything wrong till now. The one match he played, he scored 90-plus runs. He couldn't score a hundred, but he scored runs. After that, you didn't play him in the next match, and he is not part of the Test team," Chopra said.

"He hasn't failed in England, Australia and South Africa thus far, but you haven't given him a chance. It is not a good story. I can understand if you don't have confidence in his technique or playing style, that he might not be able to score runs there, then you have to take a call. Then don't send him with India A also. because you have a pre-conceived notion,” he added.

Aakash Chopra argued that it is justified for Sarfaraz Khan to feel dejected. "If you think he can make runs, and that's why he has been picked for the India A squad, then play him in the India Test team too. What wrong has he done. He made a ton in Bengaluru. Then he failed in two matches, but no one else scored in those matches. He did not even play a single match in Australia, in fact he was not even part of the conversation. So, in such a scenario, one might think that something wrong is happening with him. What has he done wrong? Maybe, absolutely nothing. But he is not getting a place in the XI. in fact he is not in the scheme of things, which is a little sad, if your name is Sarfaraz Khan," he remarked.

The five-Test series between India and England is slated to get underway on June 20 at Headingley, followed by matches at Edgbaston (July 2), Lord’s (July 10), Old Trafford (July 23), and The Oval (July 31).

India Squad for England Tests: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav