'Look at our neighbours...': Ex-cricketer on Congress spokesperson's comments about Sarfaraz Khan's religion

Former Indian cricketer Atul Wassan has criticised Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed's remarks about cricketer Sarfaraz Khan's exclusion from the India A squads, which she suggested was due to his religious identity. Wassan expressed feeling ashamed as part of the cricketing fraternity over attempts to bring communal narratives into the sport.Shama Mohamed sparked controversy on social media platform X by questioning whether Sarfaraz Khan's non-selection was related to his surname, also mentioning Gautam Gambhir in her post."I think as part of the Cricket system, as a former player, I feel ashamed that a certain party spokesperson has said that. Look at our neighbours, how Cricketers had to survive. Someone had to convert from Christianity to Islam to survive. How Hindu players were ostracised there.

It has never happened here. That is why we held a higher moral ground but if our political parties will use a player as a pawn. Very unfortunate," said Wassan.

"Whenever this communal card is played in sports in India, I feel wretched in my stomach. I played cricket; we had never even thought of any other cricketer in terms of their community or where they came from, because it is the quality of the player. She forgets that India has been led by Mohammad Azharuddin for 12 years.

Even currently, too, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.""I still believe that Sarfaraz should have been there. That is an entirely different topic, that's a Cricketing topic where we can debate, and our opinion is different from the selector's opinion. But that doesn't mean that you give this shape and tenor of him being from a particular community. Then you are maligning all the cricketers and the system. It is a big insult to the Indian Cricket system," Wassan added.READ | 'Desh ka partition kar ke manenge kya?' Sarfaraz Khan snub gets politicalThe controversy emerged after BCCI announced the India A squads for two four-day matches against South Africa A, scheduled at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.The BCCI announced two different squads for the four-day matches. The first squad includes Rishabh Pant as captain, along with players like Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, and Rajat Patidar. The second squad features additions like KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna, while maintaining Pant as captain.

In neither squads did Sarfaraz find a place.Sarfaraz Khan, who made his Test debut against England in February last year, has scored 371 runs in six Tests at an average of 37.10, including a century and three fifties.His last appearance for India was against New Zealand at Wankhede in November last year.In first-class cricket, Sarfaraz maintains an impressive average of 65.19 in 56 matches, scoring 2,467 runs with 16 hundreds and 15 fifties.Despite averaging 117.47 in first-class cricket over the last five years, Sarfaraz's chances for the Indian Test team appear limited after being overlooked for the Australia tour.