Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa feels Cheteshwar Pujara should be added to the Indian side for the tour of Australia. Pujara has been ignored by the Indian team ever since the World Test Championship Final 2023 as the management opted to get in young players.
Star batter Shubman Gill has been batting at the number three position in place of Pujara in Test cricket. As per Uthappa, the Indian team required a player who can defend the ball and currently, there is nobody who can do the same.
“We need someone defensive, someone who can play conventional, traditional Test cricket. As of now, KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran are the ones who can play that role. Honestly, I still believe there’s space for someone like Pujara in the Test team,” Uthappa said in a virtual media interaction.
“I don’t see anyone else who can take on that responsibility. Everyone likes to play positively, aggressively, and score runs at a quick pace, including someone like Shubman Gill. He is a natural stroke-player, and if you ask him to play that slow role, he may not enjoy it. You might be taking away his game,” Uthappa further added.
The India A team failed to make an impact with the bat against Australia A so far on their soil. The likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and KL Rahul got out early. Young guns like Sai Sudharsan and Dhruv Jurel are the only batters who showed some determination in the middle.
India’s Squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
