'Don't repeat your mistake by keeping him out of Leeds Test': Gambhir, Agarkar face fresh heat over India star's snub

Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar were reminded of India star's snub as the side prepares for the opening Test of the series against England.

Team India will kickstart a new era in Test cricket on Friday when the side takes on England in the first of five matches at Headingley in Leeds. The series will be India's first since the retirements of their two batting stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and will also begin a new World Test Championship cycle. Justifiably, a significant narrative around the series focuses on the beginning of a new era for India's red-ball cricket.

Gautam Gambhir (L) with Ajit Agarkar during India's tour of Australia earlier this year (PTI)

The squad for the series saw new entrants in Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh, with Karun Nair also making a return after over eight years. In addition, Abhimanyu Easwaran was also included in the squad; however, there was no place for Sarfaraz Khan, who has been a part of the Indian Test team since early last year. Former India batter Mohammed Kaif wasn't really impressed with the decision to omit Sarfaraz, and ahead of the first Test, urged the Indian team not to commit another “mistake” - handing Sudharsan a debut at the expense of Easwaran.

Sai Sudharsan is widely expected to receive his debut cap in the first Test, although Rishabh Pant's recent remarks over the batting position likely put Sudharsan in direct competition with Karun Nair for a batting spot. As such, it is likely that Easwaran isn't in contention for a place in the XI, but Kaif believes that the Bengal batter should play in the Headingley Test.

“Abhimanyu Easwaran deserves to be in the playing XI before Sai Sudarshan. Easwaran's 27 first-class hundreds, almost 8k FC runs need to be respected. By dropping Sarfaraz, someone who scored runs for India A in England, selectors made a mistake. They shouldn't repeat it by keeping Easwaran out of Leeds Test,” Kaif wrote on his official X account.

Easwaran led the India A team in their tour matches against England Lions and smashed two half-centuries across both games. However, with Shubman Gill confirmed to bat at no.4 and Pant retaining the no.5 spot in the batting order, it is likely that one of Nair and Sudharsan will compete for the no.3 position.

Sarfaraz for India A

The batter played in the first tour match against England Lions, scoring 92. He rebuilt the Indian innings alongside Karun Nair, who smashed a double century in the game. Sarfaraz was a part of India's previous Test series in Australia, but didn't feature in a single Test.