'Where will he perform and prove his credentials? The doors have been shut.'
Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed surprise over Sarfaraz Khan's omission from India A squads for the home series against South Africa, calling the decision unfair.
On Tuesday, when the national selection committee picked the Indian squad for the two first-class games against South Africa A, Sarfaraz, who turned 28 on Wednesday, didn't find his name in two separate squads to be led by Rishabh Pant.
The first match is scheduled to be played from October 30 to November 2, while the second is slated for November 6 to 9.
Despite his consistent domestic performances, Sarfaraz Khan was once again overlooked, triggering debates among fans and cricket analysts.
The middle-order batter last played a Test during New Zealand's tour of India last year, where he scored a brilliant 150 in the first Test in Bengaluru. However, he couldn't muster big scores in the next two Tests as India lost the series 0-3.
He was also a part of India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but did not get to play a single game.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said the treatment meted out to Sarfaraz could make him think that the selectors have seen enough of him and that he no longer is in the reckoning.
"I cannot find an answer to Sarfaraz Khan's non-selection. I'm very sad and sorry for him. He has reduced his weight, has scored runs. I really feel sorry for him. This sort of non-selection leads him to think that he has been seen enough and is not wanted. If I were him, I would feel this exactly. Where will he perform and prove his credentials? The doors have been shut," he said.
Sarfaraz has featured in six Tests so far, in which he aggregated 371 runs at an average of 37.1. He has a Test century and three half-centuries under his belt.
He has tallied 4,685 first-class runs in 55 games, including 16 centuries, at an impressive average of 65.98.
Ashwin also spoke on how Sai Sudharsan overtook Abhimanyu Easwaran in the race for the next number three batter in the longest format.
Sudharsan, who made his Test debut during the tour of England after a fabulous run in IPL 2025, has so far appeared in five Tests, in which he has tallied 273 runs at an average of 30.33, with two fifties. In his last Test against the West Indies in Delhi, he managed scores of 87 and 39.
On the other hand, Easwaran has scored 8,025 runs in 106 first-class matches at an average of 48.63, with 27 centuries and 33 fifties. Despite being a part of the Indian squad on many occasions, he is yet to make his international debut.
"IPL has a lot of advantages and disadvantages. See the case of Sai Sudharsan. He is a fabulous player. But how did he leapfrog Abhimanyu Easwaran? His performance in a tournament for 2-3 months has overshadowed the performance that Easwaran has put through the first-class season. Rewarding domestic performers is always up to the selectors. This is happening only because that player has done well in the IPL. Selectors need to see whether they want to reward first-class performances or IPL performances," said Ashwin.
The legendary spinner took a jibe at the national selectors saying that if he could give some advice to Easwaran, he would tell him to play T20, have a 400-run IPL season, so that he can break into Team India's playing XI.
"It is a sad state of affairs. It is quite unfortunate for some of these domestic stalwarts. They do not get enough recognition," he added.