BCCI has announced the Test and T20I squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. Having lost the South Africa series, the next assignment in the five-day format is important for India. Rohit Sharma will take over as the full-time captain of the Test Team while veterans such as Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha and Cheteshwar Pujara have been dropped. In this article, we take a look at an interesting stat about Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara after they were dropped from the Sri Lanka series.
Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were sidelined from Team India
The duo has endured a tough run in the last few years. However, they were still selected for the tour of South Africa. But, in the Rainbow Nation, as well, the veteran batsmen failed to deliver. Hence, they have been dropped. BCCI Chief Selector Chetan Sharma has said that both the players have been asked to come back to form by playing in the Ranji Trophy.
In the place of the two batsmen, who were once strong pillars of the Indian Test middle-order, BCCI has selected the likes of Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer. Shubman Gill, who has been opening for India so far, could also audition for the No.3 role in the upcoming Test series.
The first game will be at Mohali from March 4th. Bengaluru will host the next encounter from March 12th, which will also be a Day-Night game.
India last played a Test without the duo back in 2012
Meanwhile, a Twitter user has shared an interesting number on when was the last Test that India played without Rahane-Pujara. It was back in 2012 in the Adelaide Test.
Last time India played a Test without Pujara or Rahane in XI was back in 24 Jan, 2012 Adelaide Test.
AdvertisementMore than 10 years & 98 Tests ago !!
— Merin Kumar ™ (@merin_kumar) February 19, 2022
That game had a middle-order of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli. Wriddhiman Saha was the wicket-keeper in that game. India did not have a great outing in that encounter. They lost the game by 298 runs to the Aussies. The next game without Rahane-Pujara will be at Mohali in March.
