Gambhir dropped Sarfaraz due to surname?: Congress' Shama Mohammad sparks row after 'fat-shaming' Rohit Sharma

Congress' Mohamed sparked a row on Wednesday after accusing Gautam Gambhir of religious bias, pointing fingers at the non-selection of Sarfaraz Khan for senior national cricket team assignments.

"Is Sarfaraz Khan not selected because of his surname ! #justasking . We know where Gautam Gambhir stands on that matter," said Mohamed in a post on X.

Recently, seasoned batter Sarfaraz Khan was ignored from the 15-man India A squads for the two four-day matches against South Africa A at the at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The first match will be played from Oct 30-Nov 2, the second game will be played from Nov 6 to 9.

A prolific domestic batter, Sarfaraz averages 65.19 in 56 matches in first-class cricket. Sarfaraz averages 117.47 in first-class cricket over the last five years, with five fifties and 10 hundreds, amassing 2, 467 runs in this period. In a bid to answer those who criticised his fitness, the 27-year-old reduced as much as 17 kg of weight earlier this year, scored runs against England (averaged 50 in three Tests) and New Zealand (slammed 150 in the first Test at Bengaluru) in the 2024-25 home Test season. The doors to the Indian team have been firmly closed on him ever since he didn't get to play a single Test in Australia during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Returning from a quadriceps injury which forced him to miss the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup, the Mumbaikar scored 42 & 32, and looked in good rhythm according to those who were present at the venue.

Justifying Sarfaraz’s surprising exclusion from the India A red-ball team, a source in the BCCI told TOI, “It’s not correct that he's not even in the scheme of things for the Indian Test team or the doors have been closed on him. He’s a talented player. The reality is that the selectors want to ensure that Sarfaraz gets to play as many matches in the Ranji Trophy as possible after his return from injury. He would’ve missed the next few rounds of the Ranji Trophy had he been included in this side. There was a thought to include him in the side for the second match, but then all the India players, like KJL Rahul are keen to play in that game to gain match practice ahead of the home two-Test series against South Africa.”