INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar expressed his belief that Test stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara has faced unjust treatment by being
dropped from the West Indies tour following India's batting struggles in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia."Why has
he been dropped? Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures
He has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket.A loyal and quiet servant
A loyal and quiet achiever
But because he does not have millions of followers on platforms who will make a noise in case he gets dropped, you drop him."That is
something beyond understanding
What is the criteria of dropping him and keeping the others who failed? I do not know because nowadays, there is no media interaction with
the selection committee chairman," Gavaskar told Sports Today.Gavaskar believes that the 35-year-old Pujara should not be dropped from the
Indian Test team simply because of his age."He has been playing county cricket
So, he has played a lot of red-call cricket and he knows what it is about
Today, people can play till they are 39-40 years old and as long as you are producing runs, I do not think age should be a factor
Apart from (Ajinkya) Rahane, the batting completely failed
Why Pujara has been made the fall guy is something the selectors will have to explain," he added.1/10New inclusions and big exclusions in
India's Test squad for WI tourPreviousNextShow CaptionsCheteshwar Pujara, a seasoned Test player, has been excluded from India's forthcoming
two-Test tour of the West Indies in July due to his prolonged batting slump.Pujara, a veteran of over 100 Tests, was dropped following a
poor run of form after the 35-year-old scored only 211 runs in his last six matches with one half-century to his name.Pujara's prolonged run
drought included a disappointing 14 and 27 in India's loss to Australia in this month's World Test Championship final.Senior pacer Umesh
Yadav has also been axed for his mediocre performances in the recent past as the selectors have indeed started the phasing out process by
dropping him.Up-and-coming batsmen Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been included in the 16-member squad for the series starting
July 12 in Windsor Park, Dominica.Jaiswal, 21, and Gaikwad, 26, were among the top run-getters in this year's Indian Premier League
tournament and have been tipped as the future of Indian batting.Jaiswal, who once lived in tents and sold food on the street to pursue his
cricketing dream, made 625 runs including a century for Rajasthan Royals in this year's IPL.Kolkata seamer Mukesh Kumar has also earned his
maiden Test call up in the Indian team and is seen as a replacement of Umesh Yadav.Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat
Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar
Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat and Navdeep Saini.Referring to Sarfaraz's non-selection, Gavaskar questioned the logic behind having the
Ranji Trophy if performance in the country's premier domestic tournament is not looked into while picking the Indian red-ball teams instead
of taking into account the players' record in the IPL."Sarfaraz Khan has been scoring at an average of 100 in all past three seasons
What does he have to do to be picked in the squad? He might not be in the XI, but you pick him in the team," Gavskar said."Tell him that his
performances are being recognised
Otherwise, stop playing Ranji Trophy
Say, it's of no use, you just play IPL and think you are good enough for the red-ball game as well."With the help of three centuries,
Sarfaraz has scored 3,505 runs in 37 first-class matches at an average of 79.65, including 13 centuries.(With inputs from agencies)
