Summary
Four Indian team legends Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha were dropped from the Test series against Sri Lanka. A lot of questions are being raised regarding team selection. On this, AnyTV spoke to former cricketer Madan Lal on the phone.
Four Indian team legends Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha were dropped from the Test series against Sri Lanka. Rahane scored a century in the Ranji Trophy before selection, while Pujara scored 91 runs in 83 balls after the team selection. Few people were surprised when these two veterans were not selected in Team India. It also includes Madan Lal, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team. He talked to AnyTV on the phone regarding team selection. During this, apart from Rahane and Pujara, Madan Lal also spoke on the fitness of Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma being made the captain in all three formats.
BCCI chief selector Chetan Sharma announced the team on Saturday (February 19). During this, when a question was asked about Hardik’s fitness and his not playing in the Ranji Trophy, Chetan Sharma got furious. He said that all the players have been asked to play in domestic tournaments. You ask him about why Hardik is not playing. We are keeping an eye on the players who are playing in domestic cricket.
Hardik can’t be forced to play Ranji: Madan Lal
On the question of why everything is not clear about the fitness of this all-rounder, former cricketer Madad Lal told AnyTV – he should decide whether Hardik Pandya will play the Ranji Trophy or not. Chetan Sharma cannot do anything in this matter. They cannot force a player to play in a tournament. As far as fitness is concerned, Hardik will be paying attention to it and he should clear everything.
Hardik hasn’t played Tests for four years
Hardik played the last Test against England in Southampton on 30 August 2018. Talking about ODIs, he has not appeared in 50-over matches since 23 July 2021. He played his last ODI against Sri Lanka. At the same time, 8 has not appeared in T20 since November 2021. Due to being unfit, Hardik could not even bowl properly in IPL and T20 World Cup.
‘Doors not completely closed for Rahane and Pujara’
After Hardik, Madan Lal was asked about Rahane and Pujara. On the exclusion of both, the former Indian coach said – It is true that Rahane and Pujara have not played big innings for a long time. If he plays well in Ranji, he will definitely come back. The doors are never completely closed for anyone. He has got a chance to play in domestic tournaments to return to form. They are participating in that which is a good thing.
Rahane and Pujara’s bat has not worked for a long time
Cheteshwar Pujara played his last Test against Australia in January 2019 in Sydney. At the same time, Rahane’s last century came on 26 December 2020. Then he played a strong innings against Australia in Melbourne. Pujara’s average is 46.09 in 2019, 20.37 in 2020, 28.08 in 2021 and 27.00 in 2022. At the same time, Rahane has scored runs at an average of 71.33 in 2019, 38.85 in 2020, 20.82 in 2021 and 17.00 in 2022.
Team makes captain successful: Madan Lal
After this Madan Lal was asked about Rohit Sharma whether Rohit will be able to succeed as a captain in all three formats? How will they manage the workload? On this he said – Rohit is a great player of all three formats. He has also captained in many tournaments. In such a situation, I think that will definitely be successful. A captain is good only when his team is good. If you look at the current Indian team, it is fantastic. Has the power to win in every format. As far as the workload is concerned, it will have to be managed jointly by the team management, selectors and Rohit.
Kohli relinquished captaincy of T20 and Test, dropped in ODIs
Rohit has got the captaincy in all three formats in place of Virat Kohli. Kohli had said just before the T20 World Cup last year that he would step down as the T20 captain after the tournament, but would continue as captain in ODIs and Tests. Just before leaving for the South Africa tour, the selectors removed him from the post of ODI captain and handed over the responsibility of T20 as well as ODI to Rohit Sharma. After the Test series loss in South Africa, Virat resigned from the captaincy of the long format. Now Rohit Sharma is the captain of Team India in all three formats.
Expansion
Four Indian team legends Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha were dropped from the Test series against Sri Lanka. Rahane scored a century in the Ranji Trophy before selection, while Pujara scored 91 runs in 83 balls after the team selection. Few people were surprised when these two veterans were not selected in Team India. It also includes Madan Lal, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team. He talked to AnyTV on the phone regarding team selection. During this, apart from Rahane and Pujara, Madan Lal also spoke on the fitness of Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma being made the captain in all three formats.
BCCI chief selector Chetan Sharma announced the team on Saturday (February 19). During this, when a question was asked about Hardik’s fitness and his not playing in the Ranji Trophy, Chetan Sharma got furious. He said that all the players have been asked to play in domestic tournaments. You ask him about why Hardik is not playing. We are keeping an eye on the players who are playing in domestic cricket.