Sourav Ganguly Opines On Possibility Of Ajinkya Rahane And Cheteshwar Pujara Being Dropped For Sri Lanka Tests

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has clarified his recently made comments about under-fire Indian Test stars — Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara going back to playing in the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2022 season. Both the batters have not scored huge runs in the past 2-3 years despite getting backing from the national selectors.

Both Rahane and Pujara have been facing censure for their lack of runs and for being given such a long rope by the BCCI selectors and the Indian team management. Rahane has scored just one Test century since 2020 and Pujara’s last Test ton came in Sydney Test in 2019.

The BCCI selectors have backed them continuously and even showed faith in them for the recent Test series in South Africa, despite their poor showing against Australia, England, and New Zealand both at home and away last year. However, the duo disappointed scoring just one fifty each, and calls for their removal from the XI became louder, especially with youngsters like Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hanuma Vihari doing well.

Sourav Ganguly had called both Rahane and Pujara good players while saying that despite being under fire currently, they can go back to Ranji Trophy to regain some form by scoring loads of runs.

“Yeah, they are very good players. Hopefully, they will go back to Ranji Trophy and score a lot of runs, which I am sure they will. I don’t see any problem [for them to go back to domestic cricket after playing so much international cricket].

“Ranji Trophy is a huge tournament, and we have all played the tournament. So, they, too, will go back there and perform. They have played the tournament in the past when they were only playing Test cricket and were not part of the ODI or limited-overs team. So, that won’t be a problem,” Ganguly said in an interview with Sportstar.

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly Opines On Ajinkya Rahane And Cheteshwar Pujara’s Future For Sri Lanka Tests

In an interview with PTI, one of the questions asked to Sourav Ganguly — was about his comments on Rahane and Pujara playing in the Ranji Trophy in order to regain their form. He was also asked whether them playing Ranji Trophy will mean that Rahane and Pujara won’t be considered for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka at home.

“What I meant was that they will play Ranji Trophy as it starts before the Sri Lanka series. After that, the selectors will take a call. Ranji Trophy Elite group starts in third week of February and Sri Lanka Tests are in March. It will completely be the call of selection committee and whatever they decide,” Ganguly told PTI.

Both Rahane and Pujara have entered the IPL 2022 mega auction and it remains to be seen which franchises will bid on the duo.

Also Read: It Has Been Under Tough Circumstances Due To Covid-19 Over The Last Two Years: Sourav Ganguly On His Tenure As BCCI President