Member of the Indian Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor, who is known to be a passionate cricket enthusiast, expressed his displeasure with the Indian squad for the upcoming series against England in the wake of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's retirement from the longest format of the game.

Tharoor spoke to Sports Now ahead of the start of the India-England series and questioned the decision not to include Sarfaraz Khan in the squad. The Indian lawmaker pointed out that Sarfaraz made a knock of 150 against New Zealand not long ago while also getting runs for India-A against England Lions and in the intra-squad match against the senior team.

"It's a tough call for any selector, but I must say that we all have our favourites who ought to be there. I think that young Sarfaraz has done far too well in the domestic circuit to be left out. Given no opportunity in Australia, given one innings here where he made a big score in the nineties, and then was not played again. Rumours are that he did very well in the warm-up match against the regular Indian side," said Tharoor.

"Why do they leave out a player of this quality? It makes no sense. I think we should now give people a chance, we've lost the greats of Rohit and Virat one after the other, so we really need to have fresh young blood for the next two years ahead, who have done well and proven themselves over and over again like Sarfaraz has. I want to see more of him" Tharoor added.

Asked on which retirement surprised him, Tharoor claimed that while Rohit Sharma had been struggling for a couple of years, it was Virat Kohli's decision that shocked him. The MP from Thiruvananthapuram claimed that Kohli had many years of cricket left.

"Rohit has been struggling for a bit for the last couple of years in Test cricket. Perhaps less surprising. Virat is a shocker. He is supremely fit. He looked he had many years in him," said Tharoor.

Talking about Shubman Gill's appointment as the Indian captain, the 69-year-old called the youngster a mature and attractive player.

"A young captain will have a learning curve. He is very attractive and mature cricketer. I wish him luck. I hope he does well. Fingers crossed for this five-Test series. This will leave a mark of a new Indian team in the post-Virat and Rohit era. I hope he gets all the backing he needs," said Tharoor.

Talking about Gautam Gambhir, the Congress MP revealed that he knows him very well as the Indian head coach also served a five-year period as a Lok Sabha member from 2014 to 2019.

"I actually know Gauti quite well, he was in the parliament with me. He does not show that side in the parliament. Results are the only thing that matter in this sport, so let us see what comes up, let us wait for the results, and judge," Tharoor stated.

He also gave a vote of approval to Karun Nair's comeback to the Test team and expressed excitement for the series, which will start on June 20 in Headingley, Leeds.

"I am excited to see Karun Nair. One more triple century will help (laughs).We have a got a good young side. There is a lot of promise, Shubman Gill and Sudharsan and some of the youngsters, who have already shown their quality in Australia. I am excited for this series. I will be going back to India tomorrow," Tharoor said.

Tharoor also called for the Indian team to take inspiration from South Africa's 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final victory against Australia when asked to give a message to the young Indian team.

"Never give up. Look at South Africa. They were all out for 138 and won the World Test Championship. If they can, so can we," Tharoor concluded.

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