‘You don’t talk when a player is selected, only when dropped’: MSK Prasad on political row surrounding Sarfaraz Khan’s exclusion

New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS) Former chairman of the national selection committee, MSK Prasad, was very vocal about his stance on players being selected based on their name, surname, or religion, and said that such a thing never happens during the selection process. This comes after a politician levied allegations on the Indian coach Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel, accusing them of the non-selection of Sarfaraz Khan owing to the cricketer’s surname.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, Prasad, who was India’s Chief National Selector from 2016 to 2020, said that the panel never shows any bias towards a player based on their religion or community background. He also stated that those who think so ‘don’t understand Indian cricket at all.’

“It’ll never happen. When the kid got selected, forget Sarfaraz —generally, when a player is selected, you don’t talk about communities, regionalism, or other stuff. But why do all these things come out only when someone is dropped? We all know that Sarfaraz Khan has done exceptionally well; he has done well in domestic cricket and all. There could be some reason that the selectors would come out and tell. I don’t really foresee Sarfaraz being dropped in an India A game.

“There must be a solid reason; it may be any reason, but let the selectors come out and say it. But my opinion on regionalism and communalism being the reason behind a player being dropped is absolutely… ah! I don’t think I’ve ever come across such a thing, because we never take the community or a particular religion into account when selecting. The only thing that is considered is a player’s performance. And if someone is thinking along those lines, they are wrong and don’t understand Indian cricket at all,” Prasad said.

A political controversy erupted recently when Congress national spokesperson Shama Mohamed accused Indian cricket team head coach Gambhir, a former Member of Parliament representing the BJP, of religious bias after Sarfaraz was left out of the India ‘A’ squad for the upcoming series against South Africa ‘A’.

In a post on X, Shama wrote, “Is Sarfaraz Khan not selected because of his surname! Just asking. We know where Gautam Gambhir stands on that matter,” triggering a fierce political and social media backlash.

However, Prasad condemned the statements and clarified the situation, stating that the selectors would never favour any player and would choose them solely based on their performances and abilities.

— IANS

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