The decision to drop Cheteshwar Pujara from India’s Test squad for the West Indies tour has received criticism from former cricketers. Despite his good performance for Sussex in County cricket leading up to the World Test Championship Final, Pujara failed to deliver significant contributions in the crucial match, scoring only 14 and 27 in the two innings.
WV Raman, former head coach of the India women’s team, joined the chorus of former stars expressing their discontent with the selection committee’s decision. Raman highlighted the inclusion of four opening batters in the Test squad while dropping Pujara, who has played a vital role in India’s victories both at home and abroad.
“The problem is that they have picked four possible openers, and they have dropped Pujara, which is another bone of contention. A cricketer like Pujara has done a lot for Indian cricket, and he has been instrumental in India winning matches both at home and abroad on quite a few occasions,” WV Raman expressed his views on Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel.
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Raman also pointed out that Pujara was recently elevated to the position of vice-captain of the Test team but was left out after his failure in the World Test Championship Final.
“He is a gritty customer. He was even elevated to vice-captaincy quite recently, but after a failure in the WTC final, he finds himself left out in the cold. I think this is one decision that has not gone down well with many people, and personally, I am not in favor of it,” WV Raman added.
Having played 103 Test matches for India and amassing 7195 runs at an average of 43.61, Pujara played a crucial role in India’s back-to-back Test series wins in Australia. Raman believed that if it was indeed the end of the road for Pujara in the Indian team, he deserved a better farewell.
“He deserves to be treated properly. If they think it’s the end for Pujara, he could have been given a better exit. But sometimes, things happen this way, and this is not the first case. There have been precedents when players have been treated similarly,” WV Raman stated.
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Raman also expressed his concern about the lack of clarity from the selectors regarding who will bat at the number 3 position in the West Indies Tests.
“The presumption is that out of the four openers, one would probably be utilized at No. 3. Whether it’s Shubman Gill or Ruturaj Gaikwad remains to be seen. But this has not been explicitly stated, creating a bit of a grey area for those keen to know,” WV Raman concluded.
