Sri Lanka Test series: Pujara, Rahane dropped dropped

Senior batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were dropped from India’s Test team for the upcoming Sri Lanka series when the country’s cricket board named the squads, AFP reported.

Rohit Sharma, now captain across all three formats, will lead the 18-member squad and pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be his deputy for the two Tests starting March 4 in Mohali.

Both Pujara and Rahane have struggled with the bat and were told to get back to India’s premier domestic red-ball competition — the Ranji Trophy tournament — to regain lost form.

“The selection committee deliberated a lot on Rahane and Pujara,” Chetan Sharma, chairman of selectors, told reporters after announcing the squads for the Tests and three Twenty20 matches.

“We told them we will not consider them against Sri Lanka but doors are open for them. We told them to go and play Ranji Trophy.”

Wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha and veteran fast bowler Ishant Sharma also got the axe.

Bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja returns to the team alongside his spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been picked subject to getting fit ahead of the Test.

The second Test, which will be a day-night game, will be played in Bangalore starting March 12.

Former captain Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will be rested for the final T20 against the West Indies and the T20 series against Sri Lanka starting Thursday.

Pace bowler Shardul Thakur will play the West Indies T20 on Sunday and will then be given a break for the entire Sri Lanka series.

Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav was recalled to the Test squad after making his way into the white-ball team.
“Kuldeep adds variation to the squad and his bowling is difficult to read,” Chetan said.

“He had a slump in form and was out of the squad. But he bowled in the recent one-dayer and we believe given enough chances, he’d be an asset for the team.”

Rohit’s India whitewashed the West Indies in the one-day series 3-0 and have already clinched the T20s with an unassailable 2-0 lead.