Aakash Chopra advocated for India to select Sarfaraz Khan over Devdutt Padikkal in the third Test against England, which held significant importance in the tied IND vs ENG Test series. With Shreyas Iyer sidelined and KL Rahul unavailable, either Sarfaraz or Padikkal was poised to debut.
In a YouTube video, Chopra acknowledged Padikkal’s recent outstanding form but asserted Sarfaraz’s suitability based on his consistent performance over time. He argued that although Padikkal had been impressive that season, Sarfaraz deserved precedence due to his earlier inclusion in the squad, akin to the selection of Rajat Patidar previously.
“Either Sarfaraz or Devdutt Padikkal will make his debut. The simple answer to the question is that it should be Sarfaraz because he has been scoring runs for a very long time. It’s not that Devdutt Padikkal hasn’t been scoring runs for a long time.”
Highlighting Sarfaraz’s exceptional record of 3912 runs at an impressive average of 69.85 in 45 first-class matches, Chopra contrasted it with Padikkal’s slightly less consistent performance of 2227 runs and a 44.54 average across 31 first-class games, despite scoring four centuries that year.
If you see just this season in isolation, no one is in better form than Devdutt Padikkal. This is the right time to give somebody an opportunity but Sarfaraz had come into the team before him, just like Rajat Patidar had come earlier. You played Patidar then. So it’s your duty to play Sarfaraz in this match,” the former India opener concluded.
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