'Should get the respect he deserves': Harbhajan Singh on Cheteshwar Pujara's exclusion from India Test squad

Cheteshwar Pujara’s absence from the Test squad for the upcoming tour of the West Indies isn’t sitting well with many veterans. Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh hopes the master batter, who has played 100 Tests is only rested and not dropped.

“I hope it is a rest given to him rather than getting him dropped. A player who has played 100 Test matches should get the respect he deserves. I hope the selectors have talked to him and discussed the further roadmap with him,” Harbhajan said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Earlier on Friday, BCCI announced the Test and ODI squads for the tour. While youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who come fresh out of a successful run IPL run, were given maiden call-ups for the Test squad, veterans like Pujara and Umesh Yadav were shown the way out.

Read | India take first steps towards a new era with their bold decisions

India are set to leave for the Caribbean for a long tour which will feature a two-match Test series, three-match ODI series and five-match T20 series. The squad for the T20Is hasn’t been announced yet.

The decision to look beyond veterans like Pujara comes a couple of weeks after the players failed to present an impressive game in World Test Championship Final, which saw Team India lose the summit clash for the second time in a row. Australia beat India by a margin of 209 runs.

This is the second time Pujara has been dropped from the Test team. He was also dropped out of the Sri Lanka series last year. But after a stellar run in the County Championship, where he played for Sussex, he was taken back into the squad. However, he has failed to replicate his performance for Team India in Tests. Earlier this year in the Border-Gavaskar series he could gather only a meagre sum of 140 runs in 6 innings. And int the WTC final also he scored only 41 runs in total.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.