Owing to their flop show with the bat, the veteran duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been snubbed from India's squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka. The chairman of India's selection committee - Chetan Sharma, said that both the batters had been spoken to about the decision, and had been told to perform in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
"We have deliberated a lot on them. We decided not to consider them for the SL series. We asked them to play Ranji. For these two matches, we decided to give chance to others. They can still make a comeback. Ajinkya got a hundred in the Ranji match. It is a bad phase. It is very important for the selectors to manage them," Chetan Sharma said.
Along with Pujara and Rahane, veteran seamer Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha have also been dropped, and like Pujara and Rahane, were requested to play the ongoing Ranji Trophy to get back among the runs and wickets.
As per the reports, Ishant Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Rahane & Pujara were individually informed last week that they will not be considered for selection for Sri Lanka Test Series.
“Selectors want to try some new faces. Yes, they have been informed individually by the selectors themselves. Decision have been taken after consulting with Coach Rahul Dravid and other senior members of team management”, confirmed the top BCCI Official.
Rahane and Pujara have both been constantly backed by the Indian team management and selectors, but they have failed to live up to the expectations lately, and even in the recently concluded three-match Test series against South Africa, they couldn’t manage even 150 runs on the tour.
Not only Indian bowlers disappointed in the South Africa tour but batters also failed miserably that led to series defeat, be it Test series or ODI series. India's middle order looked in complete disarray. And the two batters who shattered everyone's expectations, were Pujara and Rahane, who failed to click with the willow whenever India needed them, continuing their flop show with the bat.
While Pujara scored mere 124 runs in six innings at an average of 20.6, Rahane could only muster 136 runs at an average of 22.6.
36th first-class century against Saurashtra on Day One of Mumbai's Ranji Trophy opener in Ahmedabad. Rahane’s previous hundred had come back in December 2020 in the Melbourne Test against Australia. Since that match, Rahane has averaged just 20.25 from 15 Tests, with only three fifties and a highest score of 67.
Meanwhile, Pujara was out for a duck for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy match as the Test veteran has had a prolonged lean patch with the bat, with his last Test century coming in 2019. Since 2019, he has only managed 1480 runs in 28 Tests.
The Test squad will be captained by Rohit Sharma, who takes over after Virat Kohli quit the captaincy following the away series in South Africa. It also marks the return of Ravindra Jadeja, who had missed the second home Test against New Zealand as well as the entire South Africa series and the ongoing home series against West Indies due to injury.
The first match of two-match Test series will be played from March 4 in Mohali while the second and final match will be held in Bengaluru on March 12.
India's Test squad for SL series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, R Ashwin (subject to fitness), R Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Umesh, Saurabh Kumar.
