Selectors shoot down Gautam Gambhir's request to have discarded India batter in BGT 2024-25 squad – Reports

With Team India under fire following their 184-run loss in the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test, reports are doing the rounds that selectors have denied coach Gautam Gambhir's request to include veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara in the squad. India failed to play 90-plus overs to save the fourth Test in Melbourne.

According to Indian Express, Pujara was the only suggestion from Gambhir but the selectors shot down the request. The report claims that Gambhir continued talks about Pujara despite a thumping 295-run win in Perth.

For the unversed, Pujara played a significant role during the BGT 2018-19 and 2020-21 tours when the tourists won by similar 2-1 margins. He amassed 521 (1258 balls) and 271 (928 deliveries) runs during the two tours of Australia, with three tons and four half-centuries overall.

Pujara’s last outing came in the 2023 WTC final, where he failed to deliver with the bat alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill. The 36-year-old has represented India in 103 Tests, amassing 7195 runs at an average of 43.60, including 19 tons and 35 half-centuries.

The Saurashtra batter recently smashed 234 against Chhattisgarh in the Ranji Trophy. He also amassed 501 runs in six games (nine innings) for Sussex, including two centuries and a fifty, in the last edition of County Championship Division Two.

---

“Made the scapegoat for our batting failures?” – When Sunil Gavaskar slammed India selectors for dropping Cheteshwar Pujara after the 2023 WTC final

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar once slammed the selectors for dropping Cheteshwar Pujara following the 2023 WTC final. The cricketer-turned-commentator told India Today in June 2023 (via ESPNcricinfo):

"Why has he been dropped? Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures? He has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket.”

“But because he does not have millions of followers on platforms who will make a noise in case he gets dropped, so you drop him. That is something beyond my understanding. What is the criteria of dropping him and keeping the others who failed? I do not know because nowadays, there is no media interaction with the selection committee chairman, where you could ask these questions,” Gavaskar added.

Pujara had returned with scores of 14 and 27 in the 2023 WTC final, where Rohit Sharma (15 & 43), Shubman Gill (13 & 18), and Virat Kohli (14 & 49) also failed to deliver as Australia won by 209 runs. Ahead of the WTC final, Pujara was India’s second-highest run-scorer with 928 in 32 innings in the 2021-23 championship cycle.