Karsan Ghavri questions decision to ignore Pujara for England series

Cheteshwar Pujara

Former India player Karsan Ghavri on Wednesday slammed the decision to ignore veteran Cheteshwar Pujara for the Test series against England especially with the depleted batting line-up in the absence of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.

A veteran of 103 Tests, the 36-year-old Pujara has been sidelined since the series in the West Indies, with the Indian selectors preferring to look ahead.

"I don't understand the reason why Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped. He should have been in the Indian team right from the first Test," Ghavri told PTI on the eve of the third Test in Rajkot, the home ground of Pujara.

"At first, Virat Kohli was not playing the first two Tests and now it has been announced that he would not be playing the remaining three Tests. Cheteshwar was not only the greatest replacement but the greatest player they should have included," added the 72-year-old.

With Kohli pulling out of the series citing "personal reasons" and Rahul injured, the Indian batting lineup has looked thin in the ongoing five-match series.

India have played Shubman Gill at No 3 but with little success, while Shreyas Iyer has failed to impress and has been dropped.

The Rohit Sharma-led side is likely to hand Sarfaraz Khan debut in Shreyas' place, while another youngster, Devdutt Padikkal, has been named as Rahul's replacement in the squad.

Pujara, however, has not given up on hope and is doing well in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. The veteran has already scored 673 runs at an average of 74.77 for Saurashtra and will play in their concluding league match against Manipur from Friday.

"He is still fighting, he is still in good form, he is very much in good shape and even if he comes back, I won't be surprised," Ghavri said.

He further spoke about captain Rohit Sharma's dip in form and said a big knock is round the corner.

"Rohit Sharma is a great player and there is no doubt about it. This kind of player only requires one big innings. One good 50, 60, 70 or 100, he will be on track," he added.

The series is tied 1-1 going into the third Test, starting from Thursday.