A curious case of Easwaran, Samson, Sarfaraz, Shami & Auqib
India has announced the squad for the Sri Lanka Test series, and once again the familiar questions returned. Why do players, who keep piling up runs and claiming wickets in domestic competition, are kept in the waiting list, while others with stronger IPL performances or multi-format appeal walk into the side with far less evidence suggesting their red-ball credentials?
Under Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir, the pattern has only grown more pronounced. On the surface, the talk is of building the team for 2027 and the next World Test Championship cycle, of prioritising age, adaptability and multi-format ability over pure domestic volume. In reality, it often looks like something harder to understand, a clear case of pick and choose where some players are backed for long stretches and others are simply moved aside the moment a more fashionable option becomes available.
Look at Abhimanyu Easwaran. More than 8,300 first-class runs at an average of 47*, laced with 25 centuries, regular India A captain, multiple times in the Test squad since 2022, and still uncapped. When Sai Sudharsan was preferred at No. 3 in England, the contrast was hard to miss. Sudharsan’s first-class numbers were modest by comparison, but his IPL form and left-handed elegance made him the more attractive option.
Easwaran has spoken about it without bitterness. “Yes, it does hurt sometimes,” he said. “You put in all the effort, the dream is to be in the middle.”
Sarfaraz Khan sits in a similar space. A first-class average that most players would take in a heartbeat, big scores when given the chance, a Test century and three fifties already against his name in only six test appearances, yet consistent opportunities remain hard to come by. It was only due to injury to Sai Sudarshan that Sarfaraz Khan was recalled. He was a passenger on the tour to Australia despite performing reasonably well in India in a test series.
Sadly, each time a middle-order spot opens up, his name returns to the conversation, and every time the door closes again.
The bowling side of the argument is even more striking with Auqib Nabi. In the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy he took 60 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 12.56, including seven five-wicket hauls. He was the leading wicket-taker and Player of the Tournament as Jammu & Kashmir won their first Ranji title. Across two seasons he had 104 wickets. He followed it with six wickets for India A in Sri Lanka.
Still, the pacer from Baramulla who swings the ball both ways was overlooked for the Afghanistan Test. Only due to injury to Jasprit Bumrah was Auqib Nabi included as a replacement for the Sri Lanka series.
Former India test cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar called the decision to exclude Auqib Nabi “absurd and baffling” and asserted if 60 wickets are not enough, the BCCI might as well scrap domestic cricket.
Irfan Pathan, another India cricketer, later admitted he could find no logical explanation. Agarkar acknowledged Nabi had been discussed but pointed to team composition.
Mohammed Shami’s later years followed a familiar script. After being dropped he returned to domestic cricket, took 37 Ranji wickets and kept saying he was fit and ready. The selectors had already moved on to a younger group of pacers like Prasidh Krishna and G Brar. Current form no longer seemed to matter.
Then there is the strange case of Sanju Samson. Player of the Tournament at the 2026 T20 World Cup with match-winning scores of 97 not out, 89 and 89 in the knockouts. Two centuries in the IPL that followed. For a while, it looked like the long wait to find a reliable opening batter had finally ended. Three quiet scores later, 5, 0 and 1 against Ireland and England, and he was out of the playing XI, replaced by 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Shortly after, he was left out of the Zimbabwe T20I squad altogether.
Officially it was a rest so Prabhsimran Singh could get a chance on a fringe tour, and because Samson was already earmarked for the Asian Games. Gambhir said he had given Samson “clarity” and that everyone needs to earn their place. For many watching, it felt like the same old pattern, big performances followed by a short leash.
Workload management for someone like Jasprit Bumrah is understandable. No one argues with protecting a once-in-a-generation bowler. But beyond that, it is hard to see clear upsides in the broader approach. Leadership pathways do not look any more structured than before. What stands out instead is a pattern of selective backing, some players get long ropes, others are moved aside the moment their form shows a dip or a fancier option energes.
On the other side are the players the system is clearly investing in. Sai Sudharsan has been given time and belief at No. 3. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was fast-tracked after an extraordinary IPL season. Agarkar himself said the teenager “almost forced us to pick him.” Younger names like Gurnoor Brar and Manav Suthar have been handed early opportunities because they somewhere fit the profile the panel wants.
India is lucky. The sheer depth of talent means the national side can still feature strongly at the international level despite these choices. But that luck should not hide the injustice being done to several domestic performers who keep producing year after year.
When consistent excellence in the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and India A is repeatedly overlooked, it sends a damaging message down the system. The consequences of that message may go far beyond what we can currently imagine, in motivation, in the value placed on domestic cricket, and in the pipeline of players who will one day be expected to step up.
R. Ashwin once captured the frustration with typical sharpness when he suggested Abhimanyu Easwaran would finally play Test cricket after scoring a hundred in T20. The line was half-joke, half-truth.
Visibility and selective preference now sit higher in the hierarchy than pure volume. For players like Easwaran, Sarfaraz, Nabi, Shami and Samson, the only option remains the same, keep producing. Whether that will be enough is another question entirely.
(The author is an independent content writer and blogger. As a cricket aficionado, he often writes about the game. He can be reached at bilalahsandar@yahoo.com.)
