'Pathetic Management, Disgusting Decision' - Twitter reacts to Cheteshwar Pujara's snub for West Indies Tests

India’s second-leading run-scorer of the World Test Championship 2021-23 and one of the most dependable cricketers in the middle order, Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped from the upcoming away tour against West Indies. Notably, playing for Sussex in the County Championship, the 35-year-old hit 545 runs in six matches and thus, he was expected to play a big role for the Rohit Sharma-led side in the WTC final 2023.

However, the batter failed massively, scoring 14 and 27 runs respectively in both innings. India eventually went on to lose the match by 209 runs and as things stand, Pujara will have to fight really hard in order to get back into the squad. Notably, the Rajkot-born batter has represented the national team in 103 Test matches, scoring 7195 runs in the process. He looked undroppable at one point but his performance in the WTC final looks to have played a massive part in him getting dropped.

In his absence, Ajinkya Rahane has been handed the role of India’s vice-captain in the longest format of the game. On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal is very likely to replace him in the playing XI, after the UP-born cricketer had a brilliant season with Mumbai in the last Ranji Trophy. 

Meanwhile, Pujara is very likely to continue playing County Cricket. He might join the Saurashtra squad during Ranji Trophy and if he manages to do well, the cricketer can very well make his return to the India squad. Notably, after Rahane was dropped last year, the 35-year-old ground hard in the domestic circuit, and eventually got a call-up in the national squad for the WTC final and managed to end up as India’s leading run-scorer in the final.

Thus, going forward, Pujara will have to get better with the bat and his fitness will also be closely monitored. Interestingly, during the final against Australia, Rohit Sharma expressed his disappointment with Pujara’s fitness on the field, the video of which later went viral on social media. Thus, in order to make a comeback, the cricketer will have to improve on a lot of things at the moment.

Here's how Twitter reacted -