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Sourav Ganguly Backs Cheteshwar Pujara To Solve India’s Number Four Misery
By Aditya Pratap - Mar 15, 2019 5:56 pm
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Against the flow of wind, Australia came victorious in the five-match One-Day International series against India. The visitors came from behind to register a quite remarkable series win by a margin of 3-2. As it was the last international assignment for Team India, they were looking to polish their World Cup preparations. However, the series defeat posts a few dilemmas in front of the team management.

Sourav Ganguly

Before the start of the series, Ambati Rayudu was considered as the most suitable man for number four spot. But his failure with the bat forced team management to tinker about this position. Also, Rishabh Pant’s spot in the World Cup squad has been jeopardized after his poor outing with bat and behind the stumps.

Also Read: Cheteshwar Pujara still eyes an ODI comeback

Meanwhile, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has thrown a new hat in the race of India’s number four. He named India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara as the man to solve India’s problem in the middle order.

Appearing on India TV, Ganguly suggested this move and said “See, I am going to say something that might not sound believable to many viewers and a lot of people might laugh at my suggestion. But for me, Cheteshwar Pujara should be India’s No.4 in ODIs. His fielding might be a bit weak but he is a very good batsman. I know people will be shocked by my claim but if you want a quality batsman who is better than the options India has tried off late, I think Pujara is the best choice.”

Furthermore, Dada compared Pujara wit Rahul Dravid and said he has the potential to the same job that Dravid did in the ODIs.

Also Read: Ambati Rayudu should be India’s number four, feels Matthew Hayden

“Sometimes, you need solidity in one-day cricket and Pujara provides you with that in ample measure. Especially, when your top 3 batsmen are so capable and are scoring a mountain of runs,” added Ganguly.

Pujara
Ambati Rayudu

Team India has a month to think about the squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which will be hosted by England and Wales. But as there will be no international cricket, the batsmen will try to use the Indian Premier League as an audition platform.

However, the time to make a new addition in the team has gone by and Indian skipper Virat Kohli has already mentioned IPL performances won’t affect India’s selection for the World Cup.