Why Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara dropped from India Test Squad; Selector Chetan Sharma explains!

New Delhi, February 19: For the time being, the road in front of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara to India’s Test team meets a dead end.

The national selectors under Chetan Sharma omitted both Rahane and Pujara from the Test squad of India for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

Senior wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha and experienced pacer Ishant Sharma were also left out of the Tests. But the selectors appointed Rohit Sharma as the full-time Test captain of India from the series against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's tour will begin with a three-match T20 series starting February 24 and will be followed by the five-day matches from March 4.

"The selectors took the decision after much deliberation. We have spoken to them soon after the South Africa series, we told them that we will not consider them for the two Test matches against Sri Lanka and the doors are absolutely open for them. There is absolutely no problem. We told them to go and play the Ranji Trophy," Chief selector Chetan Sharma told reporters during a virtual press meet.

It was not really unexpected then to see Ajinkya Rahane getting the axe as after that epic hundred in the Melbourne Test against Australia early last year, Rahane had experienced a meltdown in batting fortunes.

Even a hundred against Saurashtra for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy did not help his cause. Even in the last series against South Africa, Rahane managed a paltry 136 runs at 22.67 in three Tests.

As for Pujara, his last Test century came at a distant January 2019 against Australia and since then the right-hander has struggled to make any significant contribution to the Indian Test side.

In the last 14 matches, he has made 702 runs at 28.08 and in isolation that is not a bad record as he had played a series-defining innings against the Aussies in Sydney in the 2021 series.

But the selectors might have felt that Pujara needed some time away from the bustle of international cricket.

India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, R Ashwin (fitness), Ravi Jadeja, Jayant Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar.