Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra feels Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara’s chapter of selection is closed by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel. Rahane and Pujara were ignored for the two Test matches against South Africa and as expected, they were also left out of the first two Test matches squad against England.
Chopra reckons that Rahane still has a more relevant chance of making a comeback into the Test team as he plays for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League whereas the doors might have permanently closed for Pujara.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “The squad is along the expected lines. We had expected Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara not to be there. I feel that chapter is closed. If you didn’t pick them in South Africa, that was the last opportunity to pick them. If you didn’t pick them there, you are not going back to them.
“Ajinkya Rahane’s IPL career is alive, so he will stay relevant a little more because you become a part of the conversation whenever you do well in the IPL. It’s not important to play in Chennai. Playing for Chennai is important because Dhoni is there,” the former India opener added.
On the other hand, Pujara recently scored a double century against Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy. Chopra added that the veteran batter will continue to churn out runs at the domestic level.
“Cheteshwar Pujara scored a double century last week. He is the saint of cricket. He will keep scoring because he doesn’t score runs only for selection. Half the world scores runs for selection. He plays cricket just because he likes batting.”
The opening Test match between India and England will be played at Hyderabad from January 25th onwards.
India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak lavished praise on Shubman Gill after the team registered a… Read More
Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Shubman Gill has the potential to score 50… Read More
Former Indian batter Suresh Raina has backed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s selection for ODI… Read More
Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin highlighted that India’s batting struggles to get going when they… Read More
Legendary Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on Abhishek Sharma after India registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win… Read More
Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes the pressure is mounting on Sanju Samson after… Read More