"How come he has been playing regularly for Mumbai?" - Saba Karim doesn't think Sarfaraz Khan had "off-field" issues

Former India selector and player Saba Karim believes off-field conduct is a "very flimsy" reason for not selecting Sarfaraz Khan in India's squad for the West Indies tour. The wicketkeeper-turned-pundit said Sarfaraz has neither shown any such issues in domestic cricket for Mumbai nor in his personal interactions with him.

Sarfaraz has scored 2,466 runs in the last three Ranji Trophy seasons with an overall average of 79.65 but couldn't find a place ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

A day after the announcement, an unnamed BCCI insider told PTI that certain "things said", "gestures made" and Sarfaraz's alleged indiscipline have put him in a bad light, without explaining it.

"I don't believe in all that," Karim told Sportskeeda in an exclusive interview. "I think that's the work of the management and the coach to handle such cricketers if there is any issue like that, but having interacted with Sarfaraz at all, I don't think there is an issue at all. If that is the issue, how come he has been playing regularly for Mumbai? [We have] not heard anything from the Mumbai coach or the captain or the management."

"He has been playing regularly, he has been fit, he has played most of the matches, and he has played all format matches for Mumbai, as well as the Rest of India or zonal levels," he said. "And he has done well in all those matches. That, in my mind, cannot be the ground for non-selection."

Saba Karim believes that even if there are issues with a player's conduct, it's the selectors' and the team's job to correct them and get the best out of him.

"See when you pick a side, all 15 players, just like the human race, everybody's different," Karim, who was a national selector between 2012 and 2016, said.

"So the work of the management comes in how you treat the player, how you monitor them, how you guide them, so that you get the best out of them," he continued. "I think that is the role, that's the biggest role of the selector and the team management, more of the team management. I think these are very flimsy grounds for non-selection."

Other reports claimed that the said "gesture" was his finger-pointing celebration after a hundred against Delhi last year, which was perceived to be at selector Salil Ankola who was present at the stadium. Later, another source told PTI that the celebration was of "relief" and pointed towards his team and dressing room.

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"Sarfaraz Khan has proved his fitness in the match" - Saba Karim

Another reason given for his non-selection was that Sarfaraz Khan's fitness is not of "international standard". However, Saba Karim feels had that been the case, he wouldn't have been able to perform consistently in domestic cricket either.

"Fitness does play a role, but I mean, he has proved his fitness in the match," Karim said. "He has scored tons and tons of runs. And not only in one season, if I'm correct, the past two or three seasons that he has, he has piled up huge amount of runs. And that is a good enough indicator that he is extremely fit. If a cricketer is not fit, he possibly could not have scored with that kind of consistency."

When asked if non-cricketing issues should ever take precedence over cricketing merit, Saba Karim warned against generalization. He said such matters should be handled on a case-by-case basis.