Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that he isn’t surprised with the selectors’ decision as they didn’t pick Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara for the 2-match series against Sri Lanka starting on March 4.
Gavaskar opined that the writing was on the wall as both of them hadn’t scored much in the past year or so. Since January 2021, Pujara scored 810 runs in 30 innings with an average of 27.93 which included only 7 fifties. Rahane’s numbers are even worse in the same time period as he scored just 547 runs in 27 innings which included just 3 fifties.
Both Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored one fifty each in the South Africa tour
“It was expected. If in the three Tests in South Africa, one of them had hit a century or played an innings of 80-90 runs, then it would have been a different matter. Yes, Ajinkya Rahane played an attractive knock.
“But apart from that, there weren’t enough runs from them when it was expected and when the team needed the runs,” Sunil Gavaskar spoke to Sports Tak.
Pujara and Rahane are currently playing in the Ranji Trophy. Rahane scored a brilliant hundred while Pujara scored a quickfire 83-ball 91 in the second innings after getting out on a duck in the first innings. Gavaskar said that they need to score a truckload of runs in domestic cricket to make a comeback as the selectors will prefer youngsters as India don’t have any overseas tour schedule in the next 18 months.
“They can come back. Why not? If they show good form in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 200-250 in every Ranji Trophy match, then they can definitely come back. But right now, after this series, India just have a one-off Test with England and then we play Tests only towards the end of the year.
“So I feel time won’t be on their side. They’ll both be in their mid-30s. And in your mid-30s if you have opened the door for some younger players, and those players grasp their opportunities, then it will be difficult to make a comeback,” he further added.
The first match between India and Sri Lanka will be played on March 4 at Mohali. It will also be the 100th Test match for Virat Kohli.
Also, read You Can Ask Hardik Pandya Why He Is Not Playing Ranji Trophy – Chetan Sharma