Sarfaraz Khan called fat as Sunil Gavaskar slams BCCI for not fast-tracking him due to fitness

Former India National Cricket Team player Sunil Gavaskar lavished rich praise on the young batter Sarfaraz Khan for his heroics in the Bengaluru Test against the New Zealand National Cricket Team. He said that his performance on the field was much superior to his waistline.

After toiling for a lot of years in the domestic circuit, Sarfaraz Khan finally earned his place in the Indian Test team this year. He arguably has the best performer in the red-ball cricket in Indian domestic cricket as he has been piling truckloads of runs for Mumbai at an astonishing average of around 70.

However, due to the fitness issue, Sarfaraz Khan couldn't make the cut into the Indian Test team. But ever since he has been included in the Indian team setup, he has been living up to the expectations and has been scoring runs consistently for the team.

Sarfaraz Khan played an innings of 150 runs against New Zealand in 1st Test

Sarfaraz Khan slammed three fifties in his first series and, after that, recently played his best Test innings for the India National Cricket Team. The right-hander set the stage on fire in the recently concluded first Test against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

Sarafarz Khan played an innings of 150 runs, and the way he treated both spinners and fast bowlers was something that caught the attention of many. He played with controlled aggression and made sure that he helped his team take the lead in the second innings after being bundled out for 46 runs in the first innings.

Sarfaraz’s returns on the field with the bat were even more prodigious than his waistline - Sunil Gavaskar

While lauding Sarfaraz Khan, Sunil Gavaskar said that Indian cricket has too many decision-makers who feel that only slim-waisted players should play. He pointed out how the batter was denied a place in the team for so many years due to the same reason. Writing in his column for Sportstar, he explained:

"Sarfaraz’s returns on the field with the bat were even more prodigious than his waistline. Sadly, Indian cricket has had too many decision-makers with ideas that are hard to fathom,"

"Sarfaraz Khan has been denied a place in the Indian team for some years now, despite scoring runs by the hundreds in domestic cricket. This was largely because those in a position to make decisions believed he didn’t have the slim waist they deemed necessary for international cricket."

Rishabh Pant is another player who doesn’t possess the slim waist that these fitness purists seem to want - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar further added that Rishabh Pant, who also isn't a slim waist player, delivers consistently for the team. He pointed out how he runs on the field while keeping and called for yoyo tests to be scrapped. While elaborating on the same, he said:

"Rishabh Pant is another player who doesn’t possess the slim waist that these fitness purists seem to want, but what an impact player he is. Let’s not forget that he also keeps wickets all day, which not only requires getting up and down for around six hours of play but also running to the stumps to gather the throws. So, please discard these yoyo-yoyo tests and instead assess how strong a player is mentally.

"Many people in India have this strange notion that a slim waist signifies a fit person. How often have we heard someone look at a slim-waisted individual and say how fit they are? Sports fitness doesn’t depend on slim waists alone. If the mind is strong, then physical fitness can largely be controlled by it," he concluded.

Rishabh Pant initially was criticised a lot for his fitness but he kept delivering for the team. However, after his accident, he has worked hard on his fitness.