After the announcement of the test squad for the West Indies tour, everyone was shocked by the exclusion of Cheteshwar Pujara from the test squad. Pujara is the most dependable No.3 batsman for team India in the test format. Pujara has played 176 innings in his test career and has scored 3 double centuries, 19 centuries, and 35 half-centuries with an average of 43.61 but in the last 52 innings since 2020, the batsman has only 1 century with an average of 29.69. This is the second time the batsman had been dropped off from the team, the first was the series against Sri Lanka in 2022.
Pujara scored 14 and 27 during the WTC Finals against Australia and it might be the reason for the exclusion of the player. The former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh after the team announcement said that “It makes me worried that Pujara isn’t there, he is the backbone of the Indian Team. If he is being dropped, then the average of other players hasn’t been good either. The benchmark should be equal for every player despite the age of the player”.
The Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar was also not so happy about the exclusion of Pujara and said that “Why is Pujara dropped? Why is he being made the scapegoat for our batting failures?”
Indian team coach and selectors are clear that this isn’t the last opportunity for Pujara, they just wanted Ruturaj and Yashasvi for the format. He added that the doors are not closed for Pujara if he performs well domestically. Now with the exclusion of Pujara, here are the 3 players who can potentially fit in Pujara’s position in the WI series:
Yashasvi Jaiswal: The 21-year-old, who has gotten into the Indian squad for the first time can be seen as a replacement for Pujara. The selectors can try to bat him at the No. 3 position in place of Pujara. Jaiswal will provide a left-hand option for the Indian team if the opening pair will be Rohit-Gill and he has scored well in the IPL as well as in the domestic league.
Ruturaj Gaikwad: Ruturaj was a surprise inclusion for the WI series as the Indian team already has 3 openers for the tour. Ruturaj had a smashing IPL season this year, maybe it became the reason for his call-up for the WI tour as his domestic season was not that good. He could be an option for no.3 batsman if the experiment with Jaiswal failed to produce results.
Ajinkya Rahane: The Indian cricketer is back as the vice-captain for the upcoming tour against WI tour. He could be seen batting at the no.3 position in place of Pujara as he had played in the same position in this year’s IPL season, and he is in pretty good touch. He had already batted at no.4 previously in the absence of Virat Kohli so he could be an option for playing at no.3.
