After cricketer Sarfaraz Khan didn’t get selected for any team – be it Team India or the Indian A team – for the upcoming matches, Samajwadi Party MP Zia ur Rahman Barq said that he would raise the matter in Parliament’s Standing Committee for Sports if it is determined that Sarfaraz’s religion influenced the decision. The statement comes amid a political row over his non-selection, with many, including Congress national spokesperson Shama Mohamed, claiming that he was left out because of his “surname.”

“It should not happen that if someone’s performance is good, then removing them solely on the basis of religion would obviously be a violation of our constitutional rights,” he told news agency ANI, before adding, “If this happens, I am also a member of the Standing Committee of Parliament for Sports. I will also try to raise this issue.”

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He, however, stated that no player has ever been dropped from the team just because of their religious background.

“…It has never been the case that people belonging to a particular religion have brought glory or pride to the country. People of every religion and caste have always played for the country and brought honour to the nation. Our Muslim community has always played a role in this, and people of all religions have participated enthusiastically,” ANI further quoted Burq as saying. 

Row over non-selection of Sarfaraz

Sarfaraz, who averages 110.47 over the last five years in first-class cricket with five fifties and 10 hundreds, has amassed over 2,500 runs. He wasn’t selected for India’s upcoming series against South Africa A. Shama Mohamed took note of this a day after BCCI announced the squad for the two four-day matches against South Africa A, which will be played in Bengaluru.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), she wrote, “Is Sarfaraz Khan not selected because of his surname!” with the hashtag “just asking” and added, “We know where Gautam Gambhir stands on that matter.”

Sarfaraz last played for India in the home series against New Zealand in November 2024 and made his debut in Tests under Rohit Sharma at home against England in February last year.  

Shama Mohamed is not alone in questioning the BCCI over the player’s non-selection, despite his improvement in fitness and consistent domestic performances.

Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin also expressed his disappointment, saying that he feels “very sad and sorry” for the right-handed batter as he believes “doors have been shut” on him.

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“I cannot find an answer to Sarfaraz Khan’s non-selection. I am very sad and sorry for him. He has reduced his weight, has scored runs. I really feel sorry for him,” he said on his YouTube Channel “Ash ki Baat”.

Ashwin stressed, “This sort of non-selection leads him to think that he has been seen enough and is not wanted,” and went on to say, “If I were him, I would feel this exactly. Where will he perform and prove his credentials? The doors have been shut.”

‘Stop dividing India on communal lines’: BJP hits back at Shama Mohamed

National BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla criticised Shama Mohamed for her comments about “surname”, pointing out two Muslim players who will be part of the same team. He also urged her not to communalise cricket.

“This lady & her party are sick. After calling Rohit Sharma fat, she and her party want to divide even our cricket team on communal lines? Desh ka partition karke mann nahi bhara kya [Wasn’t the partition enough for you]?” he said in a post on X. 

Poonawalla added, “In the same team, Mohammad Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed will play! Stop dividing India on communal lines, caste lines.”

In yet another post, he urged Mohamed to keep her “dirty political communal agenda out of cricket”. 

Atul Wassan, who is also a former Indian cricketer, also slammed Shama Mohamed on her remarks and stated that it’s a big insult to how the Indian cricket system works.  

“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,” he was quoted by news agency ANI as saying. 

Tagging her remarks as “very unfortunate”, he added, “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.”

He, however, said that he still believes that Sarfaraz should have been a part of the team, before expressing, “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.”