Expressing his surprise over Cheteshwar Pujara’s exclusion from India’s Test team, spin great Harbhajan Singh has said that he hopes the batsman was rested and not dropped for the upcoming series against West Indies.
India are scheduled to two Tests followed by three ODIs and five T20Is against West Indies, starting next month. In the wake of the defeat in the WTC final earlier this month, the selectors decided against including Pujara in the Test team. Along with him, senior bowler Umesh Yadav has been dropped two as both the players failed to make an impact in the WTC final.
And while only time will tell whether Pujara returns to the Test team or not, Harbhajan Singh is hopeful of seeing his former teammate in the whites again. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh stated that a player of Pujara’s stature deserves respect.
“I hope it is a rest given to him rather than getting him dropped. A player who has played 100 Test matches should get the respect he deserves. I hope the selectors have talked to him and discussed the further roadmap with him,” Harbhajan Singh said.
(Credits: Twitter)
Harbhajan Singh questions Cheteshwar Pujara’s omission:
Speaking further, Harbhajan Singh highlighted that Pujara has not been the only Indian batsmen who has struggled to score big in recent times. The former India spinner opined that other senior Indian batsmen’s performances in the last two years were not significantly better than Pujara’s.
“Cheteshwar Pujara is the backbone of this team, and if you are dropping him then the figures of other batters in the last two years aren’t that strong enough. These tough calls should be same for everyone, no matter how big player he is. If you don’t consider Cheteshwar Pujara a big player then for me, other players are not that great,” Harbhajan added.
Meanwhile, Pujara has decided to head to domestic circuit after being dropped. The right-handed batsman, who recently played in the County Championship, is set to play for West Zone side in the upcoming Duleep Trophy.
India’s Test squad for West Indies:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini
Also Read: Unable To Understand These Selections: Ex-India Opener Slams Selectors
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