'If You Don’t Consider Cheteshwar Pujara a Big player Then for Me, Other Players are Not that Great'

The decision of snubbing Cheteshwar Pujara for the West Indies Tests hasn’t been welcomed by several experts of the game. The BCCI on Friday noon rolled out the squad for the 2-match series, starting July 12 in Dominica. While the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad were handed maiden call-ups, veterans like Pujara, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami missed out.

Several media reports have claimed that Shami has been rested for the tour whereas Pujara and Umesh were dropped following an unimpressive show in the WTC final against Australia which India lost by 209 runs at The Oval. However, the BCCI hasn’t said anything official about their absence.

This is the second time in 18 months that Pujara lost his spot in the Indian Test side. After getting dropped from Sri Lanka Tests at home last year, he returned into the mix on the back of a superb run in the County Championship for Sussex. In fact, the Indian Test specialist established himself as one of the prolific batters of the club but the irony is he hasn’t been able to replicate that performance for Team India. In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, Pujara scored only 140 runs in 6 innings, averaging 28. In the much-important WTC final, he amassed scores of 14 and 27 and got out after playing shots that usually he doesn’t employ.

Despite his lack of runs, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh considers Pujara the backbone of the team. Speaking in his latest YouTube video, he wished that the veteran batter has been rested and not dropped.

“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 said in a video on his YouTube channel.

“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 the same for everyone, no matter how big a player he is. If you don’t consider Cheteshwar Pujara a big player then for me, other players are not that great," he added.

The 2-match Test series begins on 12 July in Dominica while the second Test will be played in Trinidad.