Notably, the right-handed batter is returning from a brief injury layoff, but he is also fresh off crisp domestic runs and years of outsized Ranji returns. Thakur stated the simple fact that if he finds his touch once more, select him for Test cricket rather than giving any detours.

Shardul feels Sarfaraz is ready for the highest level

“Nowadays, for the India A side, they look at boys, who they want to prepare for international cricket. I feel Sarfaraz doesn’t need an India A game to play international cricket. If he gets back to scoring again, he can straight away go and play Test series also,” said Shardul Thakur as quoted by the Indian Express.

He added, “But before that, he scored two-three centuries in the Buchi Babu Trophy before getting injured. Coming back against J&K in the previous match, he had a nice 40. It was very unfortunate to have been run out. But for him, I don’t think playing India A is important.”

“He has big scores of 200-250s, and those innings have come when the team was two or three down quite early in the innings. To play that kind of innings under pressure, you have to have something special in you. He is one of the special players who never disappoints to perform and put up big scores. He has done it for years and years. Regardless of which number he bats, I think he will deliver,” Thakur said.

Shardul’s statement holds a lot of merit. The recent exclusion of Sarfaraz has earned the Indian selection committee a lot of criticism, too. Across the last three Ranji campaigns, Sarfaraz has been relentless when it comes to scoring runs and showing his efficiency. In 2021-22, he topped the charts with 982 runs in 9 innings at an average of 122.75, including a highest score of 275 and four centuries.

Sarfaraz followed this with 556 runs at an average of 92.66 in 2022-23, again showing elite efficiency, and even in a truncated 2023-24, he logged 200 runs at an average of 50. This shows that the batter is ready for the highest level of cricket and does not need any bridging assignments.