The BCCI’s senior selection panel, led by Ajit Agarkar, has named an 18-player Indian Test squad for the upcoming five-match series against England. One of the surprising exclusions is middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan, who was part of the team during the 2025-26 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Sarfaraz Khan Left Out Despite Fitness Push
Sarfaraz had worked hard on his fitness before the England tour. He reportedly lost 10 kilograms by sticking to a strict diet of boiled vegetables and chicken. Despite his efforts, the selectors chose Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair instead.
At the press conference, Ajit Agarkar mentioned that some players had to be left out of the squad, though he didn’t mention Sarfaraz Khan by name. He explained that with only 18 spots available, it was impossible to include everyone.
“We can’t pick 50 players now, so naturally when you have to pick 18 players, some players will be missing out,” Agarkar said.
Meanwhile, fans didn’t like the decision of the BCCI to keep Sarfaraz Khan out of the Indian squad. Social media has been buzzing with the tweets of the disappointed fans, who are slamming the BCCI. Check out some of the reactions:
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27 yo Sarfaraz khan lost 10 kgs in 15 days prepping for #INDvsENG series.
36 yo Ravindra Jadeja gained 12 kgs of weight playing IPL.
But out of the two they chose Ravindra Jadeja to be part of the team. Wow. 👏
Sarfaraz dhoka nahi deta, Sarfaraz dhoka khata hai. pic.twitter.com/xLNP99j7Vf
— Jitesh (@Chaotic_mind99) May 24, 2025
Mistake of Sarfaraz Khan was he didn't tweeted "Dear Cricket, give me another chance" pic.twitter.com/6rUH2M4mwX
— Rahul (@meri_mrziii) May 24, 2025
Sarfaraz Khan aur Shreyas Iyer ka India's Test team me selection na hone par Shubman Gill ke sath 😭 pic.twitter.com/WWwHW7ZE1l
— TanTan (@sks100rav_) May 24, 2025
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Shubman Gill outside Asia after 91 Gabba
28,8, 17, 4, 13, 18, 6, 10, 29, 2, 26, 36, 10, 31, 28, 1, 20, 13
It is sample size of 4 years he got promoted for his 35 test Av & Captaincy, Dhawan, Ishan kishan, Mayank Sarfaraz Khan were drop India's Test pic.twitter.com/jQ3XS1NBoK
— Nick (@Genius_kohli) May 24, 2025
Karun Nair performed in 1 Ranji season and Sarfaraz khan has been performing consistently well since 2019, this is a bit harsh on Sarfaraz imo.
— Harminder (ਹਰਮਿੰਦਰ) (@21harminder) May 24, 2025
Sarfaraz Khan is the Don Bradman of the Indian cricket team but he seems to be not good enough for the indian selector. Tough time for Sarfaraz. pic.twitter.com/oAnJnSauSc
— Sujeet Suman (@sujeetsuman1991) May 24, 2025
Feel for Sarfaraz Khan💔
Did everything he could to score runs in domestic cricket and get fitter to get into the squad. pic.twitter.com/GYJw3civ8X— Robin (@robinchopra10) May 24, 2025
Sarfaraz made his Test debut against England in 2024 but hasn’t played a Test match outside India yet. In six Tests, he has scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10. He made a strong start by hitting two half-centuries in his debut match, where India won by a huge 434 runs in Rajkot last year.
The right-handed batter did not feature in the five-Test series against Australia and last played for India in the third Test against New Zealand at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
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Recently, the 27-year-old was picked for the India A team for two first-class matches against the England Lions, as well as an intra-squad game against the senior Indian team.
India squad for England Test series:
Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
India vs England 2025 Test match schedule :
1st Test, 20-24 June 2025 – Headingley, Leeds
2nd Test, 2-6 July 2025 – Edgbaston, Birmingham
3rd Test, 10-14 July 2025 – Lord’s, London
4th Test, 23-27 July 2025 – Old Trafford, Manchester
5th Test, 31 July – 4 August 2025 – The Oval, London
