Cheteshwar Pujara’s father Arvind Pujara is confident that his son has all the mental fortitude to make a comeback in the Indian Test team.
Less than 24 hours after being dropped from India’s squad to tour West Indies next month, Cheteshwar Pujara was back in the nets and even uploaded a video of the same to send out his message to the selectors that he’s not done yet. Pujara will be back in the domestic grind, starting with the Duleep Trophy where he will feature for the West Zone team.
A 103-Test veteran, Pujara had managed scores of 14 and 27 in the WTC Final 2023 against Australia and that was the final nail for the selectors to drop him, and bring in uncapped Jaiswal and Gaikwad for the 2-Test series in West Indies.
Arvind Pujara, who played first-class cricket for Saurashtra from 1976 to 1980 and has also been the coach of his son, refrained from commenting on the selection, or non-selection of his son. But he did express faith in Cheteshwar to work hard in domestic and County cricket and make a comeback.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Arvind said, “He is mentally very strong. I can’t comment about selection. But from what I have seen, he is batting at his best. In fact he was working hard in the nets the same day post the WI team announcement. He has started preparing for the Duleep Trophy and will continue playing on the county circuit. As a father and coach, there is no reason for me to believe why he can’t comeback.”
Gavaskar, Harbhajan questioned bias in selection after dropping Cheteshwar Pujara
Although Cheteshwar hasn’t been consistent enough in recent years, as he was in his heydays, the likes of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, too, haven’t moved mountains with their bat.
Seeing this decision by the selectors to drop Pujara and retain both Kohli and Rahane (who was India’s best batsman in WTC Final, but had been dropped for the past 14 months before that), former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar said that Pujara has been made the fall guy and the scapegoat for the WTC Final loss, which he pinned on all the batters.
“Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures? He has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket, a quiet and able achiever. But because he doesn’t have millions of followers on whatever platforms who would make a noise in case he gets dropped, you drop him? That is something beyond understanding,” said Gavaskar on Sports Today.
Former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh echoed Gavaskar’s comments, pointing out at the underwhelming performances of other batters.
“Cheteshwar Pujara isn’t there, which makes me worried. He has been a big player for India. Hopefully, he’s also given a break and not dropped. Pujara is the backbone of this team. If you’re dropping him, then the averages of other batters haven’t been good either. The benchmarks should be same for all players, no matter how big a player you are,” Harbhajan said.
