Still no chance for Cheteshwar Pujara in the India Cricket Team. The veteran batter who has been aiming for a comeback into the team, saw his hopes dashed away as BCCI announced India’s Test squad for first two IND vs ENG Tests. Since snub from the India Team, Pujara has been determined to make a comeback into the squad.
An unbeaten 243 in Ranji Trophy clash against Jharkhand was not enough. Add to that today’s 49 against Haryana wasn’t enough to convince Rahul Dravid and the Ajit Agarkar led BCCI Selection Committee.
Team India is yet to find a dependable batter to replace the 35-year old at India’s top order. India have tried to implement Shubman Gill at Number 3 in Tests, but the young batter has failed to deliver.
Considering Pujara’s fine form in domestic cricket and scoring runs for fun, he would have been a fine addition to the squad. Especially given that the IND vs ENG Test series is of utmost importance.
But all hope is still not lost. India has released the squad for the first 2 tests. Should any top order batter fail to perform and Pujara continues his golden form, a callup into the India squad won’t be far away.
Squad for first 2 Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan
