Sunil Gavaskar: Cheteshwar Pujara been made the scapegoat | Cricket News – Times of India

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.

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 amassed 556 runs in six games at an average of 92.66 in the 2022–23 Ranji Trophy. The 25-year-old right-handed batter had scored 982 runs at an average of 122.75 in the 2021–22 Ranji season, including four hundreds.
In all, Sarfaraz has scored 3,505 runs in 37 first-class matches at an average of 79.65, including 13 centuries.
(With inputs from agencies)