Cheteshwar Pujara is doing well in county cricket but he is unable to score runs for the Indian team. In such a situation, Yashasvi Jaiswal can be included in the Indian Test team in his place.
India's second straight defeat in the final of the World Test Championship has left the Shivsundar Das-led selection committee worried. The next final of the Test Championship is to be played after two years in 2025. Keeping in mind the Test Championship of 2023-25, the selection committee will have to take tough decisions from now on.
Pujara was the only batsman in the Indian team to play at the Oval, who got a full chance to prepare for the final. He played county cricket for Sussex and scored a lot of runs, but did not play in the final. The selectors have been consistently banking on Pujara at the crucial No.3 spot, but apart from his 77 against Australia in Sydney in 2021 and 90 and 102 against Bangladesh in Chattogram, his bat has disappointed.
In July, India has to play two Tests against them in the West Indies. It will be interesting to see whether 35-year-old Pujara is given a chance for this series or a youngster like Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored double centuries in Ranji, Irani and Duleep Trophy, is tried. If Pujara gets a chance in this series and scores runs there, he will get a chance in the next series to be held in December 2023. In such a situation, it may be too late to give a chance to a youngster in place of number three. Former selector Debang Gandhi, while advocating for Yashasvi, says that the time has come to give him a chance at the international level. His composure has been tremendous. This is the right time to promote them internationally.
Umesh Yadav has also turned 35. His performance at home has still been fine, but he has not been able to make an impact on foreign soil. A former selector says that Umesh is in the last phase of his career, but there are no options for him. Under the India A program, we used to have options like Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Mayank Agarwal at one point of time, but that is not the case at present. Bengal's Mukesh Kumar definitely looks like an option, but he doesn't have the pace. T Natarajan, who was a member of Team India that defeated Australia on his own land, was not shown confidence later. Now he has to prove himself once again at the domestic level.
The big question is whether Rohit Sharma will fit in for the next two-year cycle of the Test Championship. He will be 38 years old in 2025. Looking at his form and fitness. It will be very challenging to play for the next two years. Then it also has to be kept in mind that at the beginning of next year, India has to play England on its soil. Then Australia and England are also to be toured. These three series will be very challenging. Rohit has scored 758 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 42.11 in the 2021-23 Test cycle. However, his average on foreign soil is 52.57 as against 36.88 at home. The performance of Virat Kohli, who played at number four, was also not special. He has scored 932 runs at an average of 32.13 in 17 Tests in the 2021-23 Test cycle, including his 186 against Australia on the Pata wicket in Ahmedabad.
The selectors have the option of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer but both the batsmen are undergoing rehabilitation after undergoing surgeries. Rahul has also not been in form in the past. He has had to face criticism. Shreyas definitely scored runs in Tests, but he never appeared to be a contender to replace Pujara, Kohli.
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