Veteran of 103 Tests Cheteshwar Pujara got dropped from the Test Squad of Team India, which is touring the West Indies, after a poor performance in the World Test Championship against Team Australia. He has been dropped from the XI or squad as many as four times in his long Test career of 13 years, and every time he has managed to stage a comeback. But the fifth time might be different. It may be a bit too much for even someone as stubborn as Pujara to come back from here on.

After cementing his place in the Indian Test side in the home series against New Zealand in August 2012, Pujara lost his place in the Indian Test XI when he was benched for the last Test against Australia at Sydney in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2014-15. A year later, he was dropped from the XI again in the West Indies when then-captain Virat Kohli was openly critical of Pujara's strike rate.

In the 2018 tour of England, KL Rahul was picked before Pujara in the series opener. Once again, he made a comeback in the side, not only in the series but for the next few years with power-packed performances at home and in two back-to-back tours of Australia, which India won.

A BCCI source said, "Once he failed in the Australia series at home, there was very little chance for him, but selectors didn't want to change things ahead of the WTC final."

The source further added, "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."

While talking about why Virat Kohli, despite having similar poor numbers in Test cricket for the last three years, was not given the same treatment as Pujara.

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

They also said, "Pujara never gave you confidence after the Australia tour that he was in rhythm. Intent was also an issue. The two knocks against Bangladesh were hardly of any consequence."

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Big Revelation from BCCI Source on India Squad for West Indies Tests

Jun 24, 2023 10:15 AM

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