After getting dropped from India’s Test squad, Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav have been included in the West Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy. The All India Selection Committee dropped Test specialist Pujara from the two-match series against West Indies. While white-ball maverick Suryakumar also failed to make the cut for the Indian red-ball team.
Pujara struggled in the World Test Championship Final and registered low scores in both innings 14 and 27. He played county cricket for Sussex ahead of the all-important clash but failed to replicate his form in the Indian colours.
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According to a report in Times of India, Pujara and Suryakumar will replace Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad in the West Zone squad after getting their maiden call-ups in the Indian Test team.
“The selectors and the coach (Rahul Dravid) wanted to try out youngsters like Jaiswal and Gaikwad, which is why Pujara has not been picked for this tour. If he scores runs in domestic cricket, the doors are not closed on him, and that has been communicated to him,” a reliable source told TOI.
Meanwhile, West Zone will play their first match in the Duleep Trophy from July 5.
The upcoming West Indies tour will be India’s first Test series after losing the 2023 World Test Championship final to Australia at The Oval earlier this month.
In the squad announced by the Men’s Selection Committee for the upcoming two-match Test series in the Caribbean which also marks the beginning of India’s 2023-25 WTC cycle, there are no places for veteran top-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara, senior pacers Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.
Also Read | Cheteshwar Pujara Dropped as India Make Big Changes in Test Squad For West Indies Tour
Meanwhile, Windsor Park in Dominica will host the first Test match from July 12-16, followed by the second Test to be played from July 20-24 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. The second Test will also mark the 100th Test match played between India and West Indies.
India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
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