Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the Test squad for India’s upcoming tour of the West Indies, and this decision hasn’t been sitting well with many veterans and experts like Sunil Gavaskar and Harbhajan Singh, who accused the selectors of making Pujara a scapegoat for India’s humiliating 209-run loss to Australia in the World Test Championship final earlier this month.
Former India cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has also joined in with a comparison between Pujara and Virat Kohli’s performances in Tests in the last few years.
“Now that Pujara is not there in the squad. The question is ‘is the decision right?’. 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.
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“Pujara has an average of 29.69 in 28 matches. Kohli, during the same period, also has the same average as Pujara. Kohli has played three matches more than Pujara but their averages are identical. Ajinkya Rahane, who has played 20 matches, has the poorest average, which is 26.50,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“So these are the numbers based on which I think 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 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 into a different direction,” he added.
Earlier commenting on Pujara’s ouster, Sunil Gavaskar said, “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.”
“I hope it is a rest given to him rather than getting him dropped. A player who has played 100 Test matches should get the respect he deserves. I hope the selectors have talked to him and discussed the further roadmap with him,” Harbhajan commented in a video on his YouTube channel.
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