The Indian cricket team recently toured Sri Lanka, where it played three T20 and three ODI matches. In the T20 series, Team India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, whitewashed Sri Lanka. In the ODI series, the Sri Lankan team won 2-0. Rohit Sharma led the team in the ODI series. After the end of the Sri Lanka tour, the Indian players have got a break of about 43 days. After the break, the Indian team will play two Test matches and three T20 matches at home against Bangladesh from September 19.
Team India will soon be announced for the home Test series against Bangladesh. While veteran players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma will be seen playing in the Test series, some young players including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan can also get a chance. After Bangladesh, a similar strategy can be adopted for the New Zealand and Australia series. Due to the youth getting priority, it will now be difficult for those players to make a comeback in the Test team, who were once the star performers of Team India. Let us know about 5 such players whose return to the Test team is now very difficult…
1. Cheteshwar Pujara: This great batsman Pujara played his last international match for India in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) last year. Pujara could score only 41 runs in that final against Australia. After this, Pujara was dropped from the Test team. Pujara’s batting position is number-3, where Shubman Gill now bats. Pujara was dropped from the team because his performance had declined in the last few years. Pujara’s average in the last 28 Tests was only 29.69. During this, he scored 1 century and 11 half-centuries. If we remove his scores of 90 and 102* in the Chittagong Test played in December 2022, then this average falls to 26.31.
Pujara’s hopes of returning to Team India also got a setback when he was dropped from the Sussex team for the County Championship next year (2025 County Championship). Pujara was performing brilliantly in county cricket, so this was a big setback for him. However, 36-year-old Cheteshwar Pujara’s Test career has been excellent. Pujara has so far scored 7195 runs in 103 Test matches at an average of 43.60. During this, 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries came from his bat.
2. Ajinkya Rahane: After being out for almost one and a half years, Ajinkya Rahane made a comeback to international cricket in the final match of the World Test Championship last year. The reason for Rahane’s return was his excellent performance in domestic cricket and IPL 2023. However, after his return, he was dropped again due to average performance. It is very difficult for him to get a chance in the presence of players like Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan. 36-year-old Rahane has played a total of 85 Test matches for Team India. In this, he has scored 5077 runs and his average is 38.46. Rahane has 12 centuries and 26 half-centuries to his name in Tests.
3. Umesh Yadav: Right-arm fast bowler Umesh Yadav has been out of Team India for many months. Umesh played his last match for India against Australia in June 2023, which was the final match of the World Test Championship. 36-year-old Umesh has played 57 Tests, 75 ODIs and nine T20 Internationals for India so far. In Test matches, Umesh has taken 170 wickets at an average of 30.95. Apart from this, Umesh took 106 wickets in ODI International and 12 wickets in T20 International.
4. Wriddhiman Saha: After Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket, Wriddhiman Saha got a lot of opportunities. However, he could not capitalize on the opportunities and his career went downhill. Saha last played against New Zealand in the year 2021. After that Saha could not return to the team. 39-year-old Saha has played 40 Tests and 9 ODIs for India. During this, he scored 1353 runs in Tests and 41 runs in ODIs. With young wicketkeepers like KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant, the doors of comeback have closed for Saha.
5. Ishant Sharma: At one time, fast bowler Ishant Sharma used to be an important member of the Indian team in Test cricket, but now his career is over in a way. 35-year-old Ishant has played 105 Tests, 80 ODIs and 14 T20 matches for India. Ishant took 311 wickets in Tests, 115 in ODIs and 8 in T20 Internationals. He played his last Test match against New Zealand in November 2021. 35-year-old Ishant Sharma is unlikely to return to the Test team because young bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed have emerged in the fast bowling unit.
Let us tell you that the Indian cricket team has to play 10 Test matches in the next 111 days (3 months 19 days) from 19 September. While overall, in 5 months, apart from 10 Tests, 8 T20 and 3 ODI matches have to be played. After Bangladesh, India has to play three Test matches against New Zealand and five Test matches against Australia on their soil.
Bangladesh tour of India
First Test- Chennai- September 19-23
2nd Test – Kanpur – September 27 to October 1
1st T20 – Gwalior – 6 October
2nd T20 – Delhi – 9 October
3rd T20 – Hyderabad – October 12
New Zealand tour of India (2024)
October 16-20: First Test, Bengaluru
October 24-28: 2nd Test, Pune
November 1-5: 3rd Test, Mumbai
Indian team tour of Australia (November-January 2025)
November 22-26: First Test, Perth
December 6-10: Second Test, Adelaide
December 14-18: Third Test, Brisbane
December 26-30: Fourth Test, Melbourne
Jan 03-07: Fifth Test, Sydney
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)