Sarfaraz Khan should be picked over Dhruv Jurel if India are purely going for their best eleven in Sri Lanka and not considering giving the latter a longer rope, former India batsman Mohammad Kaif has said. Kaif said that Jurel’s recent form and Sarfaraz’s ability to attack spin in the middle order puts the latter above the former in his books.However, he also said that India could still bench Sarfaraz for the first Test if they want to back Jurel, with the wicketkeeper-batsman having been a more regular presence in the Test team. “Whoever took the call that Sarfaraz Khan should be there in the team, whatever the reason for him being dropped and not picked before that, he wasn’t even being selected for India A, all that happened but whoever took the call of bringing him back in Sri Lanka where there could be pitches favourable for him and he could score runs, usko mera salaam hai bhai (I salute them),” said Kaif in a video on his Youtube channel.Sarfaraz last played a Test match in November 2024 and hadn’t been picked in the Indian team since their 4-1 defeat in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, in which he was in the squad but never played. Eyebrows were then raised when he wasn’t even picked for the India A squad that faced South Africa A last year. “There was some reason that he wasn’t being picked but it can’t be performance. It was not like he wasn’t making runs, he scored a 150 against New Zealand. He was playing well, was in form,” said Kaif.Sarfaraz has now returned to the Indian team as a replacement for the injured Sai Sudharsan. However, Kaif feels that Sarfaraz won’t be playing in the spot that Sudharsan vacated. According to him, that spot rightly belongs to Devdutt Padikkal, who has been in sensational form over the past year or so and continued to impress in the warm-up match India played in Colombo ahead of the two-Test series, which starts on August 15. Kaif said that if it is a slow or turning pitch that Sri Lanka dish out in Galle, where the first Test will be played, Sarfaraz has to be in the team at No.6 ahead of Jurel.“If they choose to back Jurel since he has been a regular for the past few Tests for India, then Sarfaraz will have to sit out. But if you ask me what the best eleven is, Sarfaraz’s name comes in it. He has a good record of playing spin at Nos. 5 and 6. On his debut against England, it was a slow pitch, but he scored 60 (62) in the first innings before being run out and in the second he made 68 and was unbeaten. He has a range of shots, which might be needed in the fourth and fifth days. He plays with the field and attacks spin,” said Kaif.Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.