IND vs ENG: Ajinkya Rahane More Relevant Than Cheteshwar Pujara Because Of MS Dhoni - Aakash Chopra

Former India opener Aakash Chopra feels that the exclusion of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane from the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England was along expected lines. However, he reckons Ajinkya Rahane to remain in the scheme of things for the national side longer than the Saurashtra batter based on his IPL stints.

The Indian selectors recently announced a 16-member squad of Team India for the first two Tests against England which are to be played in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.  Despite the poor show of Indian batters in the recently concluded Test series against South Africa, neither Cheteshwar Pujara nor Ajinkya Rahane got a recall for the England tour and it seems like the doors are closed on these two.

Aakash Chopra feels that the doors of the Test squad are closed on Pujara and Rahane. However, he reckons the latter might remain slightly longer in contention. He reasoned on his YouTube channel, “The squad is along the expected lines. We had expected Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara not to be there. I feel that chapter is closed. If you didn’t pick them in South Africa, that was the last opportunity to pick them. If you didn’t pick them there, you are not going back to them.”

“Ajinkya Rahane’s IPL career is alive, so he will stay relevant a little more because you become a part of the conversation whenever you do well in the IPL. It’s not important to play in Chennai. Playing for Chennai is important because Dhoni is there,” the former India opener added.

Ajinkya Rahane Was Called Back In The Test Team For The WTC Finals In 2023

Ajinnkya Rahane was called back to the Test team for the World Test Championship (WTC) Finals against Australia in June 2023 followed by a two-Test series against West Indies. His comeback was based on his performances for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2023. He was India’s best performer with the bat in the WTC finals but could not manage to carry his form against West Indies and was subsequently dropped from the squad for the Australia series.

Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have been around the Indian Test circuit since the past decade and both are great batters in red-ball and have saved a lot of matches for India. The famous win at Gabba in 2021 and the series win in Australia was led by Ajinkya Rahane. India has now replaced both the veterans with youngsters like Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the squad.

India will face England in a five-match Test series starting on January 25 with the first match to be played in Hyderabad and the second to be played in Vishakhapatnam. The other three venues for the series are Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala.

India squad for first two Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan