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The situation of Team India does not look good in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The team is trailing the hosts Australia by 1-2 and the players don’t seem confident about their performances either.
In this situation, Gautam Gambhir has reportedly made a request to include veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara in the Indian squad for the ongoing Test series. But Gambhir’s request was turned down by Ajit Agarkar and his selection committee.
Pujara has plenty of experience playing in Australian conditions and has also played his bowling quartet of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon several times in his career. His experience could have proved fruitful for a team struggling in the batting department.
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Gautam Gambhir’s request to include Cheteshwar Pujara was rejected by the selectors
According to The Indian Express, Gautam Gambhir wanted Cheteshwar Pujara in the Indian squad for this series. But the selectors rejected his request and opted to pick the squad based on current form.
Pujara was the top run-scorer in the 2018-19 Test series between Australia and India with 521 runs in seven innings at an average of 74.42. He scored 3 hundreds and 1 fifty as India registered a historic Test series win in Australia.
The 36-year-old veteran also played a key role in India’s next series in Australia. He scored 271 runs in eight innings at an average of 33.87. He scored those runs off 928 balls and played a key role in the drawn match in Sydney and the memorable win at the Gabba.
Gautam Gambhir is believed to have even mentioned Cheteshwar Pujara despite India’s win in the first Test in Perth. In all, Pujara has scored 993 runs in 11 Tests played in Australia at an impressive average of 47.28.
Recent form of Cheteshwar Pujara
Recently, Cheteshwar Pujara played in the first half of the Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra and scored his 25th hundred in the Ranji Trophy against Chhattisgarh. The 36-year-old turned it into a double hundred. He went on to play a marathon innings of 234 runs off 383 balls which included 25 fours and 1 six.
It was a typical Pujara kind of innings, but the match ended in a draw. However, he didn’t have a great season overall despite this hit. Pujara scored 269 runs in six innings at an average of 44.83 with just one 100-plus score.
The chaotic situation in the Indian dressing room
The report also mentions that Gautam Gambhir was livid with India’s recent performances and reminded the players about the team’s plan. He gave a harsh assessment of the players’ performance and claimed that they were doing their own thing instead of going according to plan.
The former India opener also spoke about the batsmen’s inability to score runs since the start of India’s home Test season in September. All these things have left the Indian dressing room in ultimate chaos ahead of the final Test in Sydney, which will be played from January 3.
