This is the second time that Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped. He was first dropped after India’s 1-2 defeat against South Africa in January 2022. He did not feature during the home Test series against Sri Lanka. Pujara made his way back to the team for the Birmingham Test last year.
In Short
- Cheteshwar Pujara had a poor outing during the WTC Final
- Pujara scored 14 and 27 against Australia in the WTC Final
- He has returned to Test squad during the Birmingham Test in 2022
By India Today Sports DeskCheteshwar Pujara’s return to India’s Test squad short-lived as he was dropped for the two-Test series against West Indies.
The 35-year-old experienced batter faced this setback following his poor performance in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, which India lost to Australia by 209 runs. Pujara, who played in England’s County Championship Division Two ahead of the WTC final, scored 14 and 27 against Australia at The Oval.
This is the second time that Pujara has been dropped. He was first dropped after India’s 1-2 defeat against South Africa in January 2022. The right-hander did not feature during the home Test series against Sri Lanka. However, he made his way back to the team for the Birmingham Test on the back of brilliant performances in India and England’s domestic competitions.
Pujara scored 13 and 66 against England during the rescheduled match. He went onto play in the Test series against Bangladesh, where he scored 90 and 102 not out, and the 2023 Border-Gavaskra Trophy (BGT). He amassed 140 runs, with a high score of 59, in four matches against Australia.
Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane has been named captain Rohit Sharma’s deputy for the West Indies tour. Rahane impressed with the scores of 89 and 46 on his Test comeback. India fast bowler Mohammed Shami has been rested for the Carribean tour after taking four wickets during the WTC Final.
India’s Test squad against West Indies:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
India will play a two-Test match series against West Indies, with the first match from July 12-16 at the Windsor Park, Dominica and the second match from July 20-24 at the Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad.
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