IND vs ENG 2024: Their chapter is closed – Aakash Chopra on Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara’s omission

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