India announced their squads for the upcoming series against West Indies where they will play a two-match series. However, they have dropped senior batter, Cheteshwar Pujara. However, renowned Indian commentator and cricket expert Harsha Bhogle is hopeful of a comeback from the batting great.
However, Cheteshwar Pujara came under the scanner after his poor performance in the recently concluded World Test Championship Final at The Oval. With Pujara being dropped from the Windies tour, rumours are there that his time with the Indian team might be coming to an end as well. However, Harsha Bhogle is not ruling out a return from Pujara, citing the example of Ajinkya Rahane, who returned to the Test in the WTC Final against Australia. Bhogle also felt that several Indian batters will be under the scanner after Pujara’s omission as the Indian team looks set to do well.
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“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 decision means the lens will be on an under-performing batting side,” he tweeted.
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While Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped from the Test squad, talented youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have received their maiden Test call-up for the Windies series as well. Navdeep Saini has also been recalled to the longer format with Mukesh Kumar earning his maiden call-up too as well. With Pujara not in the side, it will be interesting to see how India’s batting lineup will perform in the two Tests against West Indies as well.
