Cheteshwar Pujara’s omission from the Test team for the upcoming tour of West Indies has met with severe criticism. While the senior player’s performance in recent months was not really up to the mark, many believe that the call was really harsh for a player of his stature.
Cheteshwar Pujara has been one of the India’s biggest match-winners in Tests for more than a decade now. Time and again, he has saved the team with his batting. However, the selectors decided that it was enough after his failure to do well in the World Test Championship final earlier this month. The right-handed batsman managed to score only 14 and 27 as India suffered a crushing 209-run loss.
Following his omission, several fans and experts slammed the selectors for their decision. Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar went as far as saying that Pujara was made a scapegoat by selectors for the failure of other Indian batsmen in recent times including the WTC final.
Stats Show Why Dropping Cheteshwar Pujara And Retaining Virat Kohli Is Unfair:
Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted that other senior batsmen have also underperformed and one can say that the legendary batsman was spot on with his assessment. Since 2020, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli have the same average in Tests. However, it did not stop the selectors from dropping Pujara and retaining Kohli for the upcoming tour.
Since 2020, Pujara has played 28 Tests and has scored 1455 runs at an average of 29.69. During this period, he has hit 1 century and 11 half-centuries. On the other hand, Kohli has played 25 Tests since 2020 and has scored 1277 runs at an average of 29.69. During this period, the former India skipper scored 1 century and 6 fifties.
One can now realise why the fans and experts are angry with selectors and have called them out for making Pujara a scapegoat.
Also Read: A Loyal And Quiet Servant: Sunil Gavaskar Slams Selectors Dropping Cheteshwar Pujara