‘Why Has Cheteshwar Pujara Been Made the Scapegoat for Our Batting Failures?’ Sunil Gavaskar Unhappy With Veteran’s Exclusion From India’s Test Squad for West Indies Tour

New Delhi, June 24:  Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara has been unfairly targeted and dropped for the tour of West Indies after India's batting failure in the WTC Final against Australia.

"Why has he been dropped? Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures. He has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket. A loyal and quiet servant. A loyal and quiet achiever. But because he does not have millions of followers on platforms who will make a noise in case he gets dropped, you drop him."BCCI Announces Squad For India vs West Indies Test and ODI Series, Yashasvi Jaiswal Included; Ajinkya Rahane Appointed Vice-Captain.

"That is something beyond understanding. What is the criteria of dropping him and keeping the others who failed? I do not know because nowadays, there is no media interaction with the selection committee chairman," Gavaskar told Sports Today. Gavaskar believes that Pujara should not be dropped from the Indian Test team simply because of his age.

"He has been playing county cricket. So, he has played a lot of red-ball cricket and he knows what it is about. Today, people can play till they are 39-40 years old and as long as you are producing runs, I do not think age should be a factor. Apart from (Ajinkya) Rahane, the batting completely failed. Why Pujara has been made the fall guy is something the selectors will have to explain," he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 24, 2023 11:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).