Chris Gayle: Former West Indies player Chris Gayle has expressed his support for including Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan in the Test side. The 27-year-old was recently left out of India’s squad for the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Speaking on a YouTube podcast with Shubhankar Mishra, released on Sunday, September 7, Gayle named Sarfaraz as his favorite Indian player and backed him for a place in the Test squad. The 45-year-old said:
“I mean, he should be in the Test side. He should be in the Test squad at least, you know. Scored a century against England at home, not in the squad. I saw a post a couple of days ago. He lost weight. The weight wasn’t even, nothing was wrong with his weight or anything. He’s just fine. He was still scoring runs.”
“The man scored triple centuries in first-class cricket. So if they’re using that against him, that’s sad, you know. They should never use that against him. That youngster should have been a part of the squad 100%. I mean, India have so much talent, man, but give the man a run,” he added.
Sarfaraz has played six Tests for India, scoring 371 runs at an average of 37.10, including three fifties and one century, with a highest score of 150.
“He earned the right to play as long as he wants to” – Chris Gayle weighs in on MS Dhoni’s future in the IPL
In the same interaction, Chris Gayle was asked whether MS Dhoni should return for IPL 2026, and he responded:
“Oh, why not? Like I said, he should play as long as he wants to. He earned that. He earned the right to play as long as he wants to, and he earned the right to walk away when he wants to as well. Yeah, absolutely.”
MS Dhoni has appeared in 278 IPL matches, amassing 5,439 runs at an average of 38.80 and a strike rate of 137.45, with 24 fifties to his name.
