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Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has responded to the omission of veteran batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara from Men in Blue's Test squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
The India tour of South Africa 2023-24 will feature a three-match T20I series, a three-match ODI series, and a two-match Test series. The two Test matches will bring the series to a close, with the first Test commencing on December 26 in Centurion and the second and final Test taking place from January 3 in Cape Town. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced squads for the entire tour, but what turned everyone's attention was India's red-ball specialist batters Pujara and Rahane's absence from the Test set-up. This meant, for the first time since Rahane, Pujara's respective debuts that neither of them will be part of the Test contingent for a South Africa tour.
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The duo's exclusion comes as India looks to infuse fresh talent into their Test setup, signaling a potential transition within the team. While acknowledging the contributions of Rahane and Pujara, Ganguly emphasised the need to introduce new players to the Test arena.
The decision to drop Rahane and Pujara follows a period of uncertainty for both players. They were initially dropped from the Test squad ahead of the 2022 home series against Sri Lanka but made a strong comeback, even featuring in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2023.
However, Pujara was subsequently dropped again for the subsequent Test series against West Indies, while Rahane was retained but eventually omitted from the South Africa tour.
“At some point of time you have to play new talents. It happens, there is enormous talent in India and the team has to progress. Pujara and Rahane had enormous success for India, sport doesn’t remain with you forever,” Ganguly said, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
“You cannot be there forever, it will happen to everyone. I must thank them what they have done for Indian cricket and selectors want fresh faces, so that’s the way it is,” Ganguly concluded.
India’s squad for Test series against South Africa: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
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