Senior batter Cheteshwar Pujara's omission from Team India's squad for next month's Test series against the West Indies has angered fans, with a section of netizens terming the decision as “disgusting”.
Cheteshwar Pujara's exclusion from the Rohit Sharma-led side came on the heels of his dismal performance in the World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval in England earlier this month.
Interestingly, the 35-year-old batter scored 545 runs in six games for Sussex in the County Championship but couldn't replicate the same success against Pat Cummins and his men.
Worse, he failed in both the essays, making low scores of 14 and 27 in the two knocks he played against the Australians in London.
India eventually lost the match to the Kangaroos by 209 runs, prolonging their wait for an ICC title one more time. Team India last won an ICC competition under the captaincy of the great MS Dhoni in 2013 when they beat England to lift the Champions Trophy crown.
With Cheteshwar Pujara failing miserably in the World Test Championship final against Australia, the Indian selectors chose to drop him for the two Tests against the West Indies in July.
The Rajkot-born cricketer is currently the second-highest run-getter in Tests for India among active players behind former skipper Virat Kohli. In 103 Tests, Cheteshwar Pujara has made 7,195 runs, including 19 centuries and 35 fifties.
However, the decision of Team India's selectors wasn't appreciated on the internet with several of his supporters slamming them for their “pathetic management” of the national side.
Dropping Cheteshwar Pujara from Tests is another blunder from the selection committee. Just one test match doesn't decide the player's real ability. Pujara has been back in the form in the last few series but the tradition of dropping one senior player is not new.#INDVSWI #India
— Ayush (@Ayushm1305) June 23, 2023
Anil Kumble was a better choice back then as coach. His disciplinary tactics would hv created friction but raised a better team gradually that would hv lifted multiple meaningful trophies in Test & ODIs. But today we sense total collapse when one sees Pujara dropped n not Kohli.
— Rishi (@whatrishisaid) June 23, 2023
It has been a fabulous career, he was at the heart of the two great series wins in Australia in 2018/21, but I am not writing a Pujara obit yet. We almost wrote one for Rahane and he was India's best batter in the WTC final. And is now the vice-captain. But yes, the Pujara…
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 23, 2023
Well Someone had to be made scapegoat and Shots played by Pujara justified it.
— Shubman Gang (@ShubmanGang) June 23, 2023
Similar sentiments were shared by 1983 World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar who launched a scathing attack on Team India's management.
Tearing into the move, Sunil Gavaskar went on to say that Cheteshwar Pujara has been made the “scapegoat” for India's batting failure in the World Test Championship final against Australia where all senior players failed barring Ajinkya Rahane.
“Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures? He has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket, a quiet and able achiever. But because he doesn't have millions of followers on whatever platforms who would make a noise in case he gets dropped, you drop him? That is something beyond understanding,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Sports Today.
“Yes he has been playing County cricket, he knows what the red ball is all about. Nowadays players can play till they are 39 or 40, there is nothing wrong with that. They are all very fit and as long as you are producing runs or taking wickets, I don't think age should be a factor. Clearly, only one man has been singled out while the others also failed. To me, the batting failed. Apart from Ajinkya Rahane, there was nobody who got any runs. So why Pujara has been made the fall guy is something the selectors need to explain,” the former India captain noted.
Even former India opener Aakash Chopra and legendary spinner Harbhajan Singh were critical of the national selectors.
“Now that Pujara is not there, the question is was it the right decision? I am not going to make an opinion. I'm only going to show a few numbers of Indian batters in Test cricket in the last three years. Rohit Sharma has scored the most runs with an average of 43 in 18 matches. Shubman Gill averages 32 in 16 matches and KL Rahul 30 in 11 matches. Pujara has an average of 29 in 28 matches. Kohli, during the same period, also has the same average as Pujara. The only difference is that Kohli has played three matches less than Pujara. Ajinkya Rahane, who has played 20 matches, his average is the worst in this list, which is 26.50,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“So these are the numbers based on which Pujara has been axed. You should never say never because when Ajinkya Rahane has come back like that, Cheteshwar Pujara was also dropped in between, and his performance was amazing in county cricket due to which he was given a place again in the team. He did well too (in Tests) but now it seems, the next WTC cycle is starting, he is not getting younger by the day and maybe the Indian team has started to look in a different direction,” he elaborated.
“Cheteshwar Pujara isn't there, which makes me worried. He has been a big player for India. Hopefully, he's also given a break and not dropped. Pujara is the backbone of this team. If you're dropping him, then the averages of other batters haven't been good either. The benchmarks should be same for all players, no matter how big a player you are,” Harbhajan Singh mentioned on his official YouTube channel.
“If you don't consider Pujara a key player… by that logic, others aren't key players either. There shouldn't be question marks about his career. India won the series in Australia and led in England and wherever India played well, he has contributed efficiently. He hasn't performed quite consistently in the past 1-1.5, but then have a look at other batters as well. Almost similar figures. So, to single him out isn't right,” he added.
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara's father Arvind, a former first-class cricketer from Saurashtra, showed optimism that his son would make a comeback to the Indian cricket team.
“He is mentally very strong. I can't comment about selection. But from what I have seen, he is batting at his best. Even after the West Indies team was announced, he did not change his practice routine. He was soon batting at the nets,” Arvind Pujara said.
“As a father and coach, I have no reason to believe he cannot come back. After the Duleep Trophy, he will also play in the remainder of the county season,” Pujara senior signed off.
The two-match Test series will kick-start on July 12 in Dominica, while the second and final match will begin on July 24 in Trinidad.
India's Test squad for West Indies: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk), Navdeep Saini
Follow Us
Subscribe