At present, there is no shortage of talent in the Indian cricket team. However, having talent alone is not enough; a player also needs luck to secure and sustain a place in the national side. Otherwise, no matter how well they perform, they may remain confined to domestic cricket. The stories of Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran fit this situation perfectly.
Sarfaraz Khan has been outstanding in domestic cricket and was often referred to as the "Bradman of Indian domestic cricket" because of his remarkable consistency across tournaments. Yet, despite his performances, he has played only six Test matches for India, which reflects how limited his journey at the international level has been.
Next One.. Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz at least got the opportunity to make his Test debut, but Easwaran has not even made his debut despite being part of the Test squad on multiple occasions. In fact, 14 other players have made their India Test debuts while Easwaran continues to wait for his chance. This highlights the nature of his career trajectory. These cases show that no matter how talented or consistent a player is, luck sometimes plays a crucial role as well.
The main reason for this discussion has resurfaced is because Gautam Gambhir reportedly stated that Sai Sudharsan would be given an opportunity at the No. 3 position in the upcoming Test match against Afghanistan. Moreover, Gambhir indicated that Sai Sudharsan would be backed for an extended period and would not be judged harshly after just four or five poor performances. This has led cricket analysts to question why the same level of patience and support was not shown to Sarfaraz Khan.
Following Gambhir's press conference, cricket fans also revived this debate on social media. Many are asking what mistake Sarfaraz Khan actually made. They argue that Sarfaraz dominated domestic cricket and also performed well whenever he got opportunities to represent India. Yet, according to them, he was dropped from the team after only a couple of failures.
Fans same point out that when the entire team was struggling, Sarfaraz also had a few poor outings, but he was the one who ended up being permanently sidelined. As a result, many are questioning what they see as a double standard in the treatment of these two players and are demanding answers regarding the differing approaches taken toward them.
