Sunil Gavaskar: Both Pujara and Rahane will be dropped

[The Realist]

Ajinkya Rahane(1) and Cheteshwar Pujara (9) fell in quick succession on day three again of the final SA Test to leave India in trouble as their long rope of inconsistency continued. Both the batters have felt the heat after going through a rough patch and are on the verge of losing their spots on the Indian side. Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer are expected to replace them for the Sri Lanka series unless the management wants to give the experienced duo another chance.

 

Rahane after the prolific century in Melbourne has been found wanting for runs while Pujara has not scored a century for the last three years. They have been scoring the odd fifties in tough conditions which have kept their place in the squad. However, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar who had earlier backed the duo to come good has now felt that their places will be up for grabs in the Sri Lanka series.

 

“I think that not just Ajinkya Rahane (will be out of the team). Shreyas Iyer got an opportunity in the Test series against New Zealand and he scored a well-crafted century. He scored decent runs throughout the series, so I believe there will be two vacant places in the XI,” Sunil Gavaskar said on air. Gavaskar went on to mention Vihari replacing Pujara in the side at the number three role. Vihari scored 20 and an unbeaten 40 in the second Test at the Wanderers and he deserves to get the backing from the side. India will play a three-match Test series at home in the month of March.

 

“I think both Pujara and Rahane will be dropped from the team for the Sri Lanka series. Iyer and Vihari will both play. We’ll have to see who plays at no.3. Hanuma Vihari may take Pujara’s place and Shreyas Iyer could be no.5 in place of Rahane, but we will have to see. Nevertheless, I think there will certainly be two spots up for grabs against Sri Lanka,” Gavaskar added.

 

https://www.crictracker.com/both-pujara-and-rahane-will-be-dropped-sunil-gavaskar-calls-for-big-changes-ahead-of-sri-lanka-series/

 

 

Whispering campaign started by Gavaskar himself now 

[vvvslaxman]

Rahane and Pujara suck at home as well these days. They should have been kicked out an year back.

[mishra]

Hope selectors wake up. We need to drop all 5 by end of 2022.

[neel roy]

I would play mayank at 3. On indian pitches he is a beast. And play shreyas iyer at 5. He is a good fileder and can tonk sixes off spinners. So in tense situations captains dont put close in fielders against him making it easier to rotate strike. Gill n Vihari for overseas tests

Edited January 13, 2022 by neel roy

[Suhaan]

11 minutes ago, mishra said:

Hope selectors wake up. We need to drop all 5 by end of 2022.

Selectors

Edited January 13, 2022 by Suhaan

[Lord]

8 minutes ago, neel roy said:

I would play mayank at 3. On indian pitches he is a beast. And play shreyas iyer at 5. He is a good fileder and can tonk sixes off spinners. So in tense situations captains dont put close in fielders against him making it easier to rotate strike. Gill n Vihari for overseas tests

can't have different batsmen for home and overseas. 

[Laaloo]

[Texan]

55 minutes ago, The Realist said:

Ajinkya Rahane(1) and Cheteshwar Pujara (9) fell in quick succession on day three again of the final SA Test to leave India in trouble as their long rope of inconsistency continued. Both the batters have felt the heat after going through a rough patch and are on the verge of losing their spots on the Indian side. Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer are expected to replace them for the Sri Lanka series unless the management wants to give the experienced duo another chance.

 

Rahane after the prolific century in Melbourne has been found wanting for runs while Pujara has not scored a century for the last three years. They have been scoring the odd fifties in tough conditions which have kept their place in the squad. However, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar who had earlier backed the duo to come good has now felt that their places will be up for grabs in the Sri Lanka series.

 

“I think that not just Ajinkya Rahane (will be out of the team). Shreyas Iyer got an opportunity in the Test series against New Zealand and he scored a well-crafted century. He scored decent runs throughout the series, so I believe there will be two vacant places in the XI,” Sunil Gavaskar said on air. Gavaskar went on to mention Vihari replacing Pujara in the side at the number three role. Vihari scored 20 and an unbeaten 40 in the second Test at the Wanderers and he deserves to get the backing from the side. India will play a three-match Test series at home in the month of March.

 

“I think both Pujara and Rahane will be dropped from the team for the Sri Lanka series. Iyer and Vihari will both play. We’ll have to see who plays at no.3. Hanuma Vihari may take Pujara’s place and Shreyas Iyer could be no.5 in place of Rahane, but we will have to see. Nevertheless, I think there will certainly be two spots up for grabs against Sri Lanka,” Gavaskar added.

 

https://www.crictracker.com/both-pujara-and-rahane-will-be-dropped-sunil-gavaskar-calls-for-big-changes-ahead-of-sri-lanka-series/

 

 

Whispering campaign started by Gavaskar himself now 

 

 

This guy has lost complete credibility in my book. He is always in favor of players who play the slow and orthodox game similar to his style and hence he kept backing Pujara. Now he is just trying to make this statement to save whatever little credibility he has left. His opinions are heavily influenced by his own style of play and he doesn't see what is right for the team. 

 

Pant makes one mistake and he starts pounding on him even though Pant has won more matches in recent times than Pujara, Kohli and Rahane combined.

[vvvslaxman]

Where will Rohit and Gill bat when they come back. As @maniac suggested Rohit should call it quits. He is old. He can be useful in the ODIs.  This is his "peak"  Best chance for him to leave on a high note.  Prithvi shaw will still be in the reckoning as long as KL Rahul doesn't elevate his batting to next level.

[SRT100]

31 minutes ago, Lord said:

can't have different batsmen for home and overseas. 

 

Yes you can.

 

Just like how you have different bowlers for home and overseas.

[BacktoCricaddict]

7 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 leave on a high note.  

Alien concept.  

 

In reality, the purpose of the high note is to justify multiple future years of low and jarring notes.

[Lord]

5 minutes ago, SRT100 said:

 

Yes you can.

 

Just like how you have different bowlers for home and overseas.

 

Bowlers depend on pitches. So bowling combination can vary with conditions.

 

A batsman who does well in SENA will mostly also do well at home if not better. Need to back them then having completely different sides home and away.

[Lone Wolf]

27 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

Where will Rohit and Gill bat when they come back. As @maniac suggested Rohit should call it quits. He is old. He can be useful in the ODIs.  This is his "peak"  Best chance for him to leave on a high note.  Prithvi shaw will still be in the reckoning as long as KL Rahul doesn't elevate his batting to next level.

Agreed.  Two series especially against SL & Bangladesh( away) should be taken by youngsters.  I they fail or do bad then Rohit can make a comeback vs Australia.  But I doubt that will happen.  Vada pav will like to do massive stat padding against his favorite oppositions. 

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Mayank needs to play at 3 and Iyer at 5.

[wanted_desi]

#5 should go to Gill. I would back Gill over Iyer, who is 5 years younger than him and more talented. 

[R!TTER]

3 hours ago, The Realist said:

Whispering campaign started by Gavaskar himself now 

No he's putting an end to it.

[mishra]

9 minutes ago, R!TTER said:

No he's putting an end to it.

So you mean to say he first said “other people are saying to drop Rahan and Pujara” before he decided to come out as “ In his opinion, team should to drop Pujara and Rahane”

Edited January 13, 2022 by mishra

[SRT100]

2 hours ago, Lord said:

 

Bowlers depend on pitches. So bowling combination can vary with conditions.

 

A batsman who does well in SENA will mostly also do well at home if not better. Need to back them then having completely different sides home and away.

 

A batsman who does well in Asia will not necessarily also do well in SENA, if not worse.

 

Im sorry youre wrong here. I know other posters agree with this.

 

You need to pick players that can play the best in the conditions provided, sometimes this will be different if its SENA or Asia.

[vvvslaxman]

Forgot to notice this

 

"Pujara and Rahane will be dropped"  - Gavaskar   not "Pujara and Rahane should be dropped". Basically he is not exactly liking the idea of dropping them lol

[AKane]

Let us see what  Nehra has to say about this..... he won't like it.

 

Nehra was fiercely pro Rahane and pro Pujara last time this debate happened....