The ongoing Cheteshwar Pujara vs Rohit Sharma debate has spread like a wildfire and there seems to be absolutely no way of dousing it. With India due to commence their home season with the first test against New Zealand at Kanpur, there are quite a few headaches for the Indian team management. Topping the list is selecting one individual out of Pujara and Sharma. While Pujara has come on the back of two massive centuries in the Duleep Trophy; the management’s faith in Sharma remains at its peak.
Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly thinks otherwise and feels that it should be the ever reliable Pujara, who should get the nod ahead of Sharma. In a chat with India Today, Ganguly apparently stated that Pujara was a solid test batsman and much better than Rohit at the test level.
“I agree with the system that whoever is picked in the Indian team is being given a long rope. But I think Rohit Sharma’s talent in Test cricket has not pushed forward as it has done in the limited-overs formats. He has struggled more on overseas tours and on pitches which offer more seam and bounce,” said Ganguly. “I think he has got a fair rope, but I don’t think the selectors are going to find anything more about Rohit with the 13 Test matches we play in India. I would pick Pujara any day ahead of Rohit because he’s a better player at the Test level. His record in India is as good as Rohit and he got a hundred in South Africa as well,” the former opener added.
Ganguly also felt that dropping Pujara in the Caribbean on juicy wickets wasn’t an appropriate move. “Pujara was left out of the Jamaica Test where everybody said he was a bit slow to score and I was completely surprised by those comments. You need a No. 3 batsman like that, imagine Rahul Dravid, he would change his game according to situations. On seaming pitches you cannot just go and hit through the line,” he said.
Speaking about another selection headache, Ganguly said that he would want KL Rahul and M. Vijay to open the innings, rather than the inconsistent Shikhar Dhawan. “Vijay and Rahul should open the batting for India without any doubt, look at their performance overseas. Vijay by far has been India’s best opener in the last two years and he should be picked with the eyes closed. And Rahul you know has become one of India’s premier batsman within a month-and-a-half’s time. So I would have Vijay and Rahul open the innings followed by Pujara, Kohli, and Rahane,” said Ganguly.
The southpaw concluded by mentioning that India should opt for the aggressive 6-5 team combination. “With Ashwin batting at No. 6, I don’t see any reason why India cannot go with three spinners and two fast bowlers. I’m really keen to see the outlook of new coach Anil Kumble and what he does in Indian conditions. “I don’t know what Anil is going to do and I’m really looking forward to seeing whether we play on good pitches where the ball starts turning on Day 4 and 5, or we play on rank turners,” Ganguly said.