England vs India 2018: India's major worries ahead of the Lord's test

2) The Cheteshwar Pujara conundrum

Pujara is struggling for form in 2018

First things first- how did a man with 14 Test centuries and an average above 50 find himself out of the team?

A combination of factors went against him.

Signed up by Yorkshire after being ignored at the IPL auction, he was the only Indian batsman to play county cricket this season. Unfortunately for him, it was far from being a memorable stint as he managed a meagre 100 runs from 8 innings.

Lack of runs in South Africa didn't help his case either and his inability to score big against Afghanistan added to his woes. Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan kept piling on the runs for India across formats and KL Rahul carried his IPL form to international cricket.

Pujara failed to make an impact in the practice match leading up to the first Test where Rahul scored another half-century. Consequently, the team management preferred Rahul's form and Dhawan's flamboyance to Pujara's solidity.

Is that fair on Pujara?

No way. As mentioned earlier, he is the only batsman from India's Test squad to have played county cricket and it's really harsh for him to be judged on the basis of his performance there as most Indian batsmen would probably struggle even more in those conditions. Having spent two months in England, Pujara gained valuable experience of playing on a variety of pitches there and adjusting to different conditions.

He has been India's most consistent Test batsman over the last couple of years and his ability to bat time is an invaluable asset to the team. A lean start to 2018 is definitely not a good enough reason to bench him.

Forget about the perceived versatility that Rahul brings to the team; India need solidity and composure from their No.3 batsman and there is no one better than Pujara for that role.