Fitness is an important criteria for selection in the Indian cricket team, and it should be given the demanding nature of the sport, but what actually is the definition of fit cricketer? Someone with a six-pack looks fit but is he better than someone who can bat for hours and score big hundreds? Sarfaraz Khan for long was kept on the sidelines despite piling on runs in domestic cricket and former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels it was because he didn’t have a slim waist. Gavaskar blasted Indian cricket’s obsession with slim waist as a parameter for selection in the Indian cricket team and Sarfaraz’s performance at the big stage proves Gavaskar true.

The batter made his debut against England and shined with three fifties in as many games. After being left out of the playing XI against Bangladesh, he was brought back to the side in place of injured Shubman Gill and he made a massive statement by scoring a second-inning century, showing he does not need to have six pack abs to score big runs.

“Sarfaraz’s returns on the field with the bat were even more prodigious than his waistline. Sadly, Indian cricket has had too many decision-makers with ideas that are hard to fathom,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

“Sarfaraz Khan has been denied a place in the Indian team for some years now, despite scoring runs by the hundreds in domestic cricket. This was largely because those in a position to make decisions believed he didn’t have the slim waist they deemed necessary for international cricket,” the former Indian batter added.

In the same coloumn, Sunil Gavaskar cited Rishabh Pant as an example of a player who does not fit in the ideal body category but works wonders for the team.

“Rishabh Pant is another player who doesn’t possess the slim waist that these fitness purists seem to want, but what an impact player he is. Let’s not forget that he also keeps wickets all day, which not only requires getting up and down for around six hours of play but also running to the stumps to gather the throws. So, please discard these yoyo-yoyo tests and instead assess how strong a player is mentally,” Gavaskar elaborated his point.

“Many people in India have this strange notion that a slim waist signifies a fit person. How often have we heard someone look at a slim-waisted individual and say how fit they are? Sports fitness doesn’t depend on slim waists alone. If the mind is strong, then physical fitness can largely be controlled by it,” he added.