The Indian cricket team has not selected veteran players Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara for the two tests they will play in South Africa.
While the world was abuzz with news of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli skipping the white-ball leg of the Indian cricket team’s tour of South Africa, two veterans went AWOL. The two tests that the Indian cricket team will play in South Africa do not feature veteran players Ajinkya Rahane or Cheteshwar Pujara on the roster. Despite doubts about Mohammed Shami’s availability because of his “medical treatment,” star bowler Umesh Yadav is also not included in the squad.
In Test cricket, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have been India’s longtime servants. With an average of 38.46, Ajinkya Rahane has amassed 5077 runs in 85 matches in the longest format. His most recent Test match was in the West Indies in July. With an average of 43.60, Cheteshwar Pujara has amassed 7195 runs in 103 Test matches thus far. His most recent Test match was in June, against Australia.
Ajinkya Rahane, who hit 89 in the World Test Championship final, is likely to have played his final Test match alongside Chesteshwar Pujara, according to news agency PTI.
“KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer now hold the two places that Rahane and Pujara formerly held. Gill will bat in the middle order as well, while Yashashvi would be given a lengthy rope, according to a source cited by PTI.
As one of the game’s veterans, Rahane has excelled for India whenever called upon to assume a leadership position. Rahane received a lot of praise for the way he guided the squad in the 2019–20 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
But for the right-handed batter, things have only gotten worse after that campaign. Not everyone applauded the BCCI selection committee’s choice to assign him the vice-captaincy for the team’s West Indies series.
“I refuse to call it a regression. After an 18-month absence, you participate in a test and are promoted to vice captain. I don’t know how they came to that conclusion. After the Test squad for the Caribbean tour was revealed, Ganguly spoke with PTI about Ravindra Jadeja, who has been a fixture in Test matches for a long time and is a candidate.
India’s squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
