Chteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been dropped from the Indian Test team that will take on South Africa in the upcoming two-match Test series. Ajinkya Rahane led the Indian team to the famous Border-Gavaskar trophy in 2020-21 and was also India’s top scorer in the WTC final earlier this year. However, both Pujara and Rahane failed to make it to the Indian team for the tour of South Africa.
Cheteshwar Pujara has not been in his best form for India in recent years and Ajinkya Rahane has been in and out of the team for quite a few years. However, former India pacer Zaheer Khan feels that this is not the end of the road for Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara, as it happens for the best players, but they must motivate themselves and be ready for any opportunity that may come knocking at their doors. .
“These phases are very hard for cricketers as you know who are in that situation. At the end of the day, what matters is how you look at the situation, you know if you are enjoying first-class cricket, you are going to play county, you know that sort of thing, if it excites you then you have to stay prepared. Because in the past we have seen cases where two Test matches here, five Test matches against England, anything can happen. Someone who gets injured, someone who is not fit, people might re-explore different options,” he said.
“So these things happen, but as an individual, it is very difficult to motivate yourself in these situations, but if you look at the situation in a positive way, if you do the things that are in your power and if you enjoy being captain and making the team.” If you keep going, it will probably help you.”
“So you have to find your own motivation and let others do their job. The selectors do their job, the coaches, the captain and the team management, they decide their own thing, but the bottom line is that you have to enjoy cricket,” he added.
Watch: Zaheer Khan talks about Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane being excluded from the Indian team
#AjinkyaRahane and #CheteshwarPujara not part of #India’s Test squad against #SouthAfrica 😐
Is this the end of the road for the experienced duo? @ImZaheer and @Parthiv9 respond on #CricbuzzLive#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/UplKFVOmqk
– Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) December 25, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane has been one of the best red ball cricketers in India. He also led India in some of the games and has a great success rate as a leader. However, with the arrival of young talent and other senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in good form, the selectors have ignored him. Talking about Cheteshwar Pujara, he is not in his best form since 2021 and that has led the selectors to consider young options as his replacement.
India’s two best Test batsmen are going through a tough phase. However, the end is not near for them as there is still a chance that the Indian team will consider them for the upcoming tours. They are India’s long-time rescue operators.