It seems that it is the end of the road in the Test career of 35-year-old Cheteshwar Pujara after he was dropped from the Test squad for the West Indies tour following India’s loss in the WTC Final 2023 to Australia. And while there is always a possibility of making a comeback – as Rahane did – the chances of that for Pujara are very slim.
But, is Pujara being made the scapegoat? Did he, and only he, deserved to be dropped? Let’s see.
Here are 2 factors which say that Cheteshwar Pujara is being treated unfairly and harshly:
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane too had similarly disappointing numbers
While the numbers of Pujara aren’t great by any standards, the numbers of his teammates too are only par with him, and hence it feels the most that this dropping is really unfair on Pujara.
Since the start of 2021, Pujara has the third-most Test runs amongst Indians, only behind Pant and Rohit. Since 2021, Pujara averages 31, so does Virat Kohli, while Ajinkya Rahane has a poor average of 23 in this period.
Rahane, in fact, was even dropped last year and was out of the side for 14 months. But his good performance in the WTC Final – a one-off Test for which he was recalled due to his experience, and got a reprive from a no-ball from Cummins – not only saw Rahane retain his place in the side, but also surprisingly get elevate to the Test vice-captaincy post.
Since 2021, while Pujara has 1 century and 10 fifties, Kohli has one century and 5 fifties, and Rahane has only 4 fifties; Pujara’s century came in an away Test match, on a slightly difficult track in Bangladesh where India’s openers also struggled and his ton helped India win the match, while Kohli’s hundred came on a dull, lifeless Ahmedabad pitch against Australia, the match ended in a draw.
In fact, Cheteshwar Pujara is the last Indian batsman to hit an away century!
Pujara has often been made the scapegoat
Whether it was about the start of the 2018 England series, or after the Test series loss in South Africa in 2022, or now after the WTC Final 2023 loss, it is not the first time that Cheteshwar has been dropped from the Test side.
As Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar rightly pointed out, Pujara doesn’t have the fan-following or the so-called PR that some of his teammates enjoy, and thus his exclusion hasn’t created any furor. The fans have accepted this dropping of the veteran Indian batsman, the hero of India’s twin Test series wins in Australia, while other players – in particular, Virat Kohli – continue to have a set place in the side despite not doing anything better than Pujara.
“Clearly, only one man has been singled out while others also failed. To me, the batting failed [in WTC Final]. Why is he [Cheteshwar Pujara] dropped then? Why is he being made the scapegoat for our batting failures? He has been a servant of Indian cricket, a loyal servant. Because he doesn’t have millions of followers on whatever platforms who would make a noise in case he gets dropped?,” Gavaskar said.
