After their recent lack of form in the Test matches against South Africa, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will not be considered in the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka at home.
The board and selectors have made it evident that both of them need to go out into the domestic circuit. Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president, told Sportstar in an interview that he didn’t have any issue with both players going to the domestic format. The duo has been underperforming in recent times and therefore giving India major headaches as well.
Secondly, Pujara and Rahane have wasted multiple chances that they were provided by the selectors and the BCCI. For instance, Rahane’s last hundred came in December 2020 while Pujara’s last came in Australia in 2018-19. Ranji Trophy is where they have a chance to rehone their skills. The domestic competition starts on the 10th of February.
Ganguly even described the duo as “very good players”. India are starting their home series with West Indies today at Ahmedabad with the first ODI. After that, they will host Sri Lanka for 2 Tests and 3 T20Is. Even Sunil Gavaskar gave the verdict that Pujara and Rahane might get the axe after the South Africa series.
Both of them will participate in the Ranji Trophy. They have been playing the tournament for many years now as they were not selected for India’s limited-overs series.
