Gautam Gambhir wanted Cheteshwar Pujara in BGT squad, was turned down selectors

With the Indian team sinking further into the quagmire after losing the 4th Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, it has been learnt that head coach Gautam Gambhir wanted veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara in the team only for the suggestion to be shot down the selectors.
The Indian Express’ Sriram Veera, Devendra Pandey and Venkata Krishna B reported on Wednesday that after the Melbourne loss, the India dressing room has descended into chaos with Gambhir having had enough of the recent subpar performances, delivering a brutal assessment of the players.
Pujara, a player who has represented India in over 100 Tests, has been out of the national set up since the 2023 World Test Championship final at the Kia Oval where India lost to Australia. The batter could only manage 14 and 27 runs in the two innings of that match as the Aussies walked away with the trophy.
However, with most of the Indian top order failing to spark to life in the ongoing series, a player like Pujara, who has 993 runs from 11 games at an average of 47.28 in Australia, might have made a difference. It has been learnt that even after India won the 1st Test in Perth, Gambhir still talked about the 36-year-old Saurashtra batter.
Pujara was the leading run-getter in the 2018-19 series with 521 runs off 1258 balls and was once again the backbone of Indian batting three years later when he accumulated 271 runs off 928 balls, helping India win both series.
READ MORE: Gautam Gambhir cracks whip on Team India’s chaotic dressing room: ‘Bahut ho gaya’, The Indian Express reports
Even opposition bowler Josh Hazlewood had praised the batter’s gritty performances before the start of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, saying he was glad that the Saurashtra batter was not playing in the 2024/25 series.
“I am happy that Cheteshwar Pujara is not here. He is someone who bats time and spends a lot of time at the crease and makes you earn his wicket every time. Has done well in Australia on previous tours. I mean there are always first-class young players coming into the team,” the pacer had said in November.

In October, Pujara slammed his 25th Ranji Trophy hundred and converted it into his 18th First Class double hundred in the second round for Saurashtra against Chattisgarh in Rajkot. With the feat, he is only behind Don Bradman (37), Wally Hammond (36) and Patsy Hendren (22) on the illustrious l of batters with the most First Class double centuries.

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