The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has announced the squads for the Test and ODI series in India’s long tour of the West Indies starting in early July.
Just coming out of the humiliating 209-run loss to Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, the Caribbean tour presents Team India with a good opportunity to get a good start to the WTCs 2023-25 cycle.
The only major change in the Test squad is Cheteshwar Pujara being dropped for Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had a terrific run in the IPL 2023 for Chennai Super Kings. Pujara wasn’t coming out of a two-month-long IPL like most of the players on the WTC final playing XI list but that element of freshness was lost on him as he scored just 41 runs in two innings in a match that required the top order to lead to a good start.
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Besides Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal has also been drafted into the squad mainly with the intention of building a team for the future and slowly phasing the seniors out.
Cricket expert and commentator, Harsha Bhogle looking at Pujara’s removal from the squad pointed out that it seemed under-performance in the batting lineup was now under the lens.
It has been a fabulous career, he was at the heart of the two great series wins in Australia in 2018/21, but I am not writing a Pujara obit yet. We almost wrote one for Rahane and he was India’s best batter in the WTC final. And is now the vice-captain. But yes, the Pujara…
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 23, 2023
Abhishek Mukherjee opined that Pujara’s removal this time could mean phasing out of seniors.
The last time Pujara was dropped, it was just a drop.
This one may be the first step of phasing out the seniors.
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) June 23, 2023
Network18 Group Sports Editor also wondered if the WTC final 2023 at The Oval was Pujara’s last Test.
So, we saw the last of Cheteshwar Pujara at the Oval, is it?
— KSR (@KShriniwasRao) June 23, 2023
While Ajinkya Rahane, following his strong comeback at the WTC final, was promoted as the vice-captain, there was a Twitter user who recalled if Pat Cummins had controlled his foot by half an inch when he dismissed Rahane early on in the first innings, he might have had the same fate as Pujara.
If Cummins had landed his foot half an inch behind, Rahane would have suffered a fate similar to that of Pujara.
— Prithvi (@Puneite_) June 23, 2023
Senior journalist Ayaz Memon argued though Rahane and Umesh Yadav, who has also been removed from the Test squad, were part of the WTF final fiasco, they were not entirely to blame.
Gaikwad and Jaiswal in Test squad is heartening. Fresh blood needed. Sad though if we’ve the last of Pujara and Umesh in India colours? They were only part of the WTC final fiasco, not major cause. K L Rahul and Bumrah still struggling with injuries worrying for WC.
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 23, 2023
A five-match T20Is series will also be played after the Tests and ODIs series and the squad for that will be announced later.
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