Former India chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar expressed his surprise at Mumbai’s middle-order Test batters Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan being ignored for the upcoming five-Test England tour. Young batter Shubman Gill-led India team will begin their England series with the opening Test at Leeds on June 20. Iyer, 30, represented the country in 14 Tests, scoring 811 runs with the help of one century and five half-centuries. Iyer was also part of the Jasprit Bumrah-led team in the 2022 Birmingham Test in which he scored 15 and 19 respectively.  

Sarfaraz, 27, who featured in six Test scoring 371 runs has one century and three half-centuries under his belt. “Shreyas and Sarfaraz should have been in India’s Test squad for the England tour. It’s surprising to know they both are not selected. Both are experienced batters. Sarfaraz played a very good knock [of 56] against England in the Dharamsala Test where he and [Devdutt] Padikkal played an important session quite well while facing pacers like James Anderson and other pacer [Mark Wood]. I was there in Dharamsala then and watched Sarfaraz,” Vengsarkar told Sunday mid-day.