The BCCI announced the India squad for the five-match Test series against England on Saturday. The squad saw Karun Nair make a comeback to the team after nearly eight years. Nair was rewarded for his consistent run in domestic cricket. Meanwhile, it was a heartbreak for Sarfaraz Khan, who was dropped from the squad. After a brilliant debut series against England, Sarfaraz scored a hundred in the first Test against New Zealand, however, he failed to fire in the following two Tests. He was benched for the entire series in Australia before being dropped from the squad.

Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was delighted over Karun Nair's inclusion in the Test team and said he was India's best bet given his recent form.

“Even Jaydev played his first Test at a very young age, and then it took 13 years or so to play another Test. He persevered, he went on picking wickets in domestic cricket. Like Unadkat, Karun has kept on scoring big hundreds. That's why the selection committee had to bring him back. A man in form is one of your best bets. He is scoring runs, he also got the experience of County Championships. A very good call to bring him back to Indian cricket, Gavaskar said to India Today.

On Sarfaraz, the legendary cricketer said that it was a tough call to drop him, but added that failure in the New Zealand series made things tough for him. He said Sarfaraz didn't get a game in Australia and then missed the Ranji Trophy due to injury, adding that there was no way the selectors could have known about his form.

Gavaskar said that the players should not take anything for granted and keep performing to the best of their abilities in every game.

“It's tough, that's what cricket is all about. When you get opportunities, you have to make sure the place is yours. Even if you score a hundred, you should make sure that you don't go into your next innings thinking you scored a hundred in the previous knock. You have to get your eye in and get those runs again. You must not give anybody a chance to push you out of the team.”

“It's entirely up to you to ensure you cement that spot. You need to keep knocking on the doors and break the doors down.”

“I think it's a tough call because after the tour of Australia, there was no red-ball cricket. Yes, there was the Ranji Trophy, but he was injured. So, he didn't play. There was no way he could show what his form was.”

“You have to be undroppable. We have seen in the past, if a team loses a series, the guys who are 13th, 14th, 15th in the squad get dropped. You have to take your chances,” he added.

While announcing the India squad, chief selector Ajit Agarkar justified the decision of dropping Sarfaraz and said that the decision was taken by the team management in the best interest of the team. "Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. Sarfaraz, I know he got a 100 in the first Test (vs New Zealand) and then didn't get runs. Sometimes it's decisions the team management takes. Whether it's fair on somebody or unfair on someone, those are the choices that you make in the best interest of the team,” Agarkar said.