IND vs AUS: 'Don't be Partial,' Fans Slam Management For Selecting KL Rahul Ahead of Sarfaraz Khan For Remaining Tests

Sarfaraz Khan failed to make the cut for the remaining Test matches between India and Australia as BCCI announced the India squad on Sunday (February 19). Earlier, India's middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav was picked above Sarfaraz, who is regular in the T20I and ODI squad. Suryakumar Yadav himself was sidelined when Shreyas Iyer, who's a regular in the Test squad returned for the second game after injury.

"Obviously it is (on his selection being inspirational). Suryakumar is a good friend of mine. And we spend a lot of time together when we are in the team together. I get to learn a lot of things from him. He had to wait for a long time but the way he has been playing, he has taken on his experience together, so that makes things easy," he told journalist Vimal Kumar. (READ: India's Squad for Australia ODI Series, Pandya named captain)

Sarfaraz has been in sensational form in domestic cricket for the past one year but has failed to impress the Indian selectors. Fans on social media were devastated to see KL Rahul being backed up yet again after numerous failure and slammed the management for not picking Sarfaraz.

Checkout the reactions below:

@BCCI Will Sarfaraz Khan not get a chance give Kl Rahul some rest he needs a break don't be partial with him .

— Ms (@myworldisonyong) February 19, 2023

What is the fault of #sarfarazkhan,
Now when #KLRahul has to be kept in the team,
Then the people of the world can say whatever they want.#BCCI #SanjuSamson #sarfarazkhan pic.twitter.com/bG7Uz4vM37 — Sandeep (@ssandeep1117) February 19, 2023

@klrahul is the damaad of @BCCI ..qouta player..still no Sarfaraz..KL will play all 4 Tests vs Aus ...sharm karo #RahulDravid and @ImRo45 ...gazab favouritsm hai...aur chato #RohitSharma ki ...@SunielVShetty @theathiyashetty @JayShah agle janam mujhe KL banao bhagwan..lucky man — @imbanerji (@imbanerji) February 19, 2023

BCCI at its best by not selecting players who perform well in domestic. What is the criteria for selection players like K L Rahul who doesn't perform in Test, One day, T20 but he find his place in all format. Player like Sarfaraz who perform extremely well still out of team. — Nadeem (@Nadeem_caify) February 19, 2023

#TeamIndia 's squad for #INDvAUS remaining tests

Rohit (C), Rahul, Gill, Pujara, Virat Bharat (wk), Kishan (wk), Ashwin, Axar, Kuldeep, Jadeja, Shami, Siraj, Iyer, Surya, Umesh, Unadkat

No place for Sarfaraz as of yet. Also there was no mention of the VC.#BorderGavaskarTrophy pic.twitter.com/TAGkZ77iPX

— Chup Bey (@stud88282483) February 19, 2023

"Of late, there has been a lot of talk about his batting. But again, for us as team management, we always look at any individual's potential, not just K.L, in the past. If the guy has potential, he will get an extended run, not just about KL, it's anyone. If you look at a couple of hundreds he's got in overseas, one of the best knocks was at Lord's, batting on that damp pitch after losing the toss and put in," said captain Rohit Sharma backing up his teammate.

India’s Test squad for third and fourth Test against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), K L Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.