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India legend Sunil Gavaskar didn’t mince his words when it came to analyzing the team selected for India’s tour of the West Indies. In the Test team, the selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to sack Cheteshwar Pujara due to his low returns in the ICC World Test Championship Final (WTC 2023 Final). India lost the final for the second time in a row and it was clear that there would be some changes in the team. The selectors decided to drop Pujara keeping the future in mind, while inducting newcomers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
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While the selection of Jaiswal and Gaikwad is understandable as India, like other teams, are looking for aggressive batsmen in the Test squad given the changing nature of the format, Gavaskar is furious with the selectors for making Pujara a scapegoat. It is worth noting that it was not only Pujara who had a poor performance with the bat, but Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also suffered a poor performance in the final.
India ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shardul Thakur, R Jadeja, Akshar Patel , Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh_ pic.twitter.com/PGRexBAGFZ– BCCI (@BCCI) 23 June 2023
News – India’s squad for West Indies Test and ODI series announced.
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Akshar Patel , Mo._ pic.twitter.com/w6IzLEhy63– BCCI (@BCCI) 23 June 2023
Gavaskar slammed the selectors
Gavaskar feels that Pujara has been made a scapegoat for India’s failure in the WTC final while others have retained their places. Gavaskar told Sports, “Clearly, only one person has been dismissed while others also failed. For me, the batting failed. Apart from Ajinkya Rahane, in both the innings, he scored 89 and 46, no one else didn’t really score runs.” Today.
Describing Pujara as a faithful servant of Indian cricket, Gawkar said that only those who have a massive social media following get a place in the team. “Then why was he (Cheteshwar Pujara) dropped? Why is he being made a scapegoat for our batting failures? He has been a servant of Indian cricket, a faithful servant. Because he doesn’t have millions of followers on any platform , who will be.” To make noise if it is dropped?”, he added.
Read this also | Yashasvi Jaiswal: Lived in a tent, sold panipuri, now part of India’s Test team for West Indies
‘Seniors should have got a break from Test cricket in World Cup year’
The former India captain said the selectors should have given senior players time off from Test cricket in a World Cup year. India will play only 2 Tests till December this year. For Gavaskar, there is no point feeding Rohit and Virat with the 50-over World Cup so close. “I personally wanted the big players to be given a complete break from Test cricket. Only now, look at the 50-over or 20-over format. I wanted them to see only the white ball and not the red ball at all. Also. Give them a complete break. They will play non-stop for three-four months: Gavaskar added.
