“They are not gods,” says WV Raman about the BCCI’s decision not to pick Sarfaraz Khan for the West Indies trip.

The West Indies tour is coming up, and India is getting ready to go to the Caribbean. It’s important to know that India and the West Indies will play each other in a multi-format match starting on July 12. The two teams will play two Test matches, three ODIs, and five T20Is to round out the series. Before the series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named the Test and ODI squads. Sarfaraz Khan was not on either squad, which was a big deal.

Even though Sarfaraz Khan is one of the best players in the Ranji Trophy, he has yet to play internationally. His exclusion made a lot of fans angry, and they took to Twitter to yell at the people who chose him. But in the middle of the controversy, former Indian player WV Raman spoke up to explain why Sarfaraz wasn’t picked.

“The selection group is said to have had some things to say about why Sarfaraz wasn’t chosen. WV Raman said on Aakash Chopra’s YouTube account that one of them is that he needs to improve his ability to play against fast bowling and the other is that he needs to improve his fitness and fielding.

“Someone can turn around and ask me what they are trying to say and if they think they are gods. They are not gods, though. They aren’t really trying to find problems with Sarfaraz Khan,” he said.

In most screening committee meetings, decisions like these are made: WV Raman

Raman also said that a player’s stats aren’t the only thing that matters when it comes to foreign selection. He said that there are a lot of other things that come into play as well.

“They not only look at the numbers a cricketer has put up, but they also try to talk about the different things they may have noticed in a cricketer’s technique or attitude,” Raman said.

“This group has done exactly that. They think that Sarfaraz Khan might not be ready to face fast bowlers from other countries. In most meetings of a selection group, decisions like these are made. This has been done before by this group, and it will be done again in the future, he said.