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SPORTS JULY 07, 2023 | The Indian Eye 40

Young blood on WI tour:

What Pujara, Shami, Bumrah’s

absence mean for emerging cricketers

Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are all still recovering from surgery for various
injuries, and with Rishabh Pant undergoing rehab after surviving a car crash

OUR BUREAU

Mumbai
ndia’s announcement of squads
for the Test and ODI series on
IFriday for their tour of the West
Indies has certainly raised a few eye-
brows and questions.
Cheteshwar Pujara, who man-
aged to take Virat Kohli’s number 3
spot in India’s Test squad for almost
a decade, was ignored for the red-
ball leg of the Caribbean tour and,
may have made his final appearance
for India in the World Test Champi-
onship final against Australia. With
the beginning of the new WTC cycle,
India needs to replace those ageing
stalwarts and bring the new faces
in the hope of making their third
straight final and, possibly, going one
better.
For many, Pujara’s absence does
not come as a huge shock as he failed
to carry his county form into red-ball
fixtures for India. However, there’s
little clarity on who can rightfully
take his place in the Test squad.

With Puajara gone, the return

of Kohli to his preferred No.3
position would appear to be the Pujara (right) failed to carry his recent county form into red-ball fixtures for India (ANI)
logical call. However, with the
in the Indian Premier League (IPL) him away from the bowling aspect on A tours and in domestic cricket,
stalwart now settled at No.4, 2023 series. of the game. But after IPL 2023, he has been included in the squad. This
In 14 matches, Jaiswal scored
no one knows who will fill the 625 runs with an average of 48.08 could be an ideal replacement for may appear to be a surprise selection,
with the likes of Avesh Khan and
that vacant number four spot.
void. and a strike rate of 163.61. While However, Rishabh Pant’s ab- Tushar Deshpande ready for interna-
Gaikwad on the other end scored 590 sence does not help India’s cause in tional exposure have been ignored.
A possible candidate could be runs in 16 matches with an average of this regard. The 29-year-old pacer now has
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is capable of 42.14 and a strike rate of 147.50. Even Axar Patel could move up the opportunity to make a debut for
playing well as an opener as well as a While these two batters could the batting order. His batting style the Indian team. The pacer will have
middle-order batter. fight for the one remaining spot, a and technique has gone through a an opportunity to make his mark in
Along with him, young left-hand- third alternative emerges in Hardik drastic change. His hardwork was the Test format after enjoying an av-
ed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal has finally Pandya. clearly visible in his recent knocks in erage IPL 2023 season.
made his way to the Indian squad. He has been absent from the the IPL. Along with him, Navdeep Saini
He stole the limelight with his quick- Test team since England. His recur- In the bowling department, has also been included in the squad,
er fire knocks for Rajasthan Royals ring back problem has largely kept Mukesh Kumar, who has impressed Continued on next page... >>

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