Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has predicted that both Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will probably be dropped from the Test team for the series against Sri Lanka.
Both Pujara and Rahane have been in horrid form and a lot of cricket boffins reckon both of them should be dropped from the Test side.
Pujara could only score nine runs in the second innings of the third Test match at Cape Town against South Africa while Rahane was dismissed for a solitary run. Both of these batters have been inconsistent in the last two years and they have come under scrutiny.
In 27 Test innings since the start of 2021, Rahane has scored only 547 runs at a paltry average of 20.25 and has scored just three half-centuries. On the other hand, Pujara scored his last Test century back in January 2019 when he scored 193 runs against Australia in the Sydney Test match.
Meanwhile, players like Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari are waiting in the wings. Iyer scored a fine century on his Test debut against New Zealand at Kanpur while Vihari has done a good job in overseas Test matches.
Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports, “Not only Rahane but the way Shreyas Iyer scored a century in his debut match against New Zealand, I feel two places might become vacant. Both Pujara and Rahane will probably be dropped from the team for the Sri Lanka series.”
“Iyer and Vihari will both play, we will have to see who will play at No. 3, whether Hanuma Vihari will take Pujara’s place and Shreyas Iyer will take Rahane’s place at No. 5. But I feel two changes will be there against Sri Lanka and these will be the two changes.”
Little Master also feels that it will be a good opportunity to give chances to young players in home conditions against Sri Lanka.
“If you are thinking about the future, this is a very good opportunity to give chances to the youngsters on the home pitches against Sri Lanka. If Shreyas Iyer, Gill or Vihari had played on these pitches, they would have also faced difficulties.”
In fact, Vihari had scored a gutsy knock of 40 runs in the second innings of the Wanderers Test. Thus, he also deserves his chances in playing XI.
“Vihari played a very good knock at the Wanderers but the pitch here or the one at Centurion, the sort of bounce that has been there, any batter could have difficulty. So if you want to carry them ahead for Test matches, it would be good to give them chances on home pitches.”
The first Test match between India and Sri Lanka will be played at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium from 25th February.
