India vs West Indies 2023: Cheteshwar Pujara axed from Test team, is it the end of road for Saurashtra batter?

The Rohit Sharma-led side – which lost the WTC Final 2023 at The Oval against Australia earlier this month – has two new faces in the batting department i.e. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad and one of them is likely to bat at number three instead of Pujara.

Cheteshwar Pujara in WTC Final

Pujara – who had a forgettable outing in both innings of the WTC final – couldn’t win the confidence of the selectors, who decided to not pick the Saurashtra cricketer. Pujara had scores of 14 and 27 against Australia in the marquee ICC final game and it was the choice of shots which brought him criticism.

Meanwhile, his teammate Ajinkya Rahane – who scored a fighting fifty in the first innings of his comeback match – has been re-appointed as the vice-captain of the side. Rahane – who came into the side as an injury replacement to Shreyas Iyer – grabbed the opportunity and scored vital runs for the team.

Pujara dropped from Indian Test team in 2022

When Pujara was dropped from the Test squad ahead of the home series against Sri Lanka along with Rahane last year, the then chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma had said that doors were not closed for the gritty No.3 and he could go get back to first-class cricket and earn.

The right-handed batter went back to County Cricket and played for Sussex where he scored tons of runs and was recalled for the one-off Test against England in 2022 and also got a chance to complete 100 Tests milestone in the series against Australia this year.

Continuous slide impacted Pujara’s fortunes

However, the 35-year-old seemed to be going down in the pecking order after his consistently poor show during the home series against Australia and scored 7, 0, 31*, 1, 59 and 42 in the four-home games against the Aussie. It started looking certain from there itself that the right-handed batter might not get a longer rope should he fails in WTC Final.

“Once he failed in Australia series at home, there was very little chance for him but selectors didn’t want to change things ahead of the WTC final,” a BCCI source in the know of things was quoted by PTI on conditions of anonymity.

“Twin failures at Oval sealed his fate. SS Das was in London for the WTC final. He must have had a word with head coach Rahul Dravid and intimated his panel’s thought-process post final,” the source added further.

Selectors move away from Pujara, focus on future

If one removes the Saurashtra batter’s knocks of 90 and 102 against Bangladesh, last year, he has scored at a poor average of 26 in the last three years and perhaps got a very long rope for non-performance. The Indian cricket team’s batting had been a concern all through the 2021-23 WTC Cycle and Pujara’s dwindling form was also a reason.

“It is a two-year cycle and you can’t just make wholesale changes. Pujara hasn’t been scoring for three years. The difference between a Virat Kohli and a Pujara has been the rhythm. Yes, Kohli also has had a dry spell but he never looked out of form.

“Pujara never gave you confidence after the Australia tour that he is in rhythm. Intent was also an issue. The two knocks against Bangladesh were hardly of any consequence,” the source added further.

Pujara scored truckloads of runs in the County Championships across formats in the previous season and this year as well. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate the same numbers in international cricket. With the youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad waiting in the wings for an opportunity, the selectors seem to have taken the call to look beyond Pujara.

All is not over for Cheteshwar Pujara yet

However, with the kind of player and strong character the 35-year-old possesses, you never know. He might go to the domestic circuit and meditate on the pitch, grind bowlers to the hilt and might once again earn an India call-up. With his penchant for runs, one won’t be surprised if Pujara makes a solid comeback and silence his critics.

Experts are also of the opinion that it is still too early to call Pujara off because the team management hasn’t tested the bench well and against a worthy opponent, they might have to fall upon a seasoned campaigner to pocket vital points in WTC 2023-25 Cycle.