India’s newly-appointed Test captain Rohit Sharma spoke on the axing and the future of two senior cricketers – Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, both of whom had been inconsistent for more than two years with lack of a big score and were finally dropped by the selectors for the upcoming Sri Lanka series.
Chief selector Chetan Sharma, however, had said that they won’t be considered “just for these two Tests” versus Sri Lanka and that the doors aren’t closed on them in the future.
On the eve of the Test captaincy debut in Mohali, Rohit Sharma also reiterated the same sentiments, saying that there is “no way they are not being looked at in the future”.
Rohit Sharma lauded the contribution of the duo for India’s immense success in Test cricket over the past decade; it is the first time since 2012 that India will be playing with neither Pujara nor Rahane in the eleven.
“What Pujara and Rahane have done for this team, you can’t put it in words. All these years of hard work, playing 80-90-odd Tests matches, all those overseas Test victories, India getting to No. 1 in the Test format, these guys helped us throughout and played a big part in that,” Rohit said on Thursday.
“There is no way they are not being looked at in the future. They will definitely be part of our plans in the future. Like the selectors also said, it is just for now that we didn’t consider them. There is no guarantee, nothing written about them that they will not be considered for future series.”
Both Pujara and Rahane have had decent outings in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, however, they will need big runs to force their way back in the side for the single Test in England later this year.
While Mayank Agarwal is likely to open alongside Rohit with KL Rahul injured, two of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari will play in the vacant positions of Pujara and Rahane.
Rohit Sharma admitted that these will be two massive shoes to fill for the incoming batters.
“Those are big shoes to fill. Never easy for the guys who come in. Even I don’t know who is going to come in. You have to wait till tomorrow morning,” the skipper added.
