Is this the end of the road for Pujara & Rahane?
On 20th February 2022 Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) came up with a 18 men's squad for the upcoming t20 and test series against Sri Lanka which is to be held on home soil. In the t20 squad huge names like Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant were missing, as they are rested for the t20 internationals but what was shocking was seen in the test side of the national team that many markey players went missing but two names which were not there in the list one of them was the vice captain of the team and the other was like the back bone of the team's batting line up yes you guessed it right the names are Ajinkya Rahane & Cheteshwar Pujara the two pillar of Indian batting line up who had won the matches for their team from the jaws of defeat.
Like who can forget India's tour of England 2014 Lord's test when on day one England pacers Anderson & Broad were hunting down the Indian side in pair but on that green top on day one against one of the most lethal fast bowling attacks of all times there rose a batsmen a warrior who not only survived the crucial part of the day but after that he demolished the opposition single handedly and made a ton on that particular day itself and played a knock that was, is and will be remembered as his name went up to the honours board in the mecca of cricket.
Rahane was not only one of the most dependable batsmen he was also a calm and composed captain also with Virat being injured or rested it was always Ajinkya who stepped up and took responsibility and made it clear that the team shouldn't lack in any aspect in the absence of the captain, and the results were winning the Border Gavaskar trophy in Australia for the second time after being 1-0 down in what could be said a poor defeat where India got all out for mear 36 runs. Leaving those mental scars of what could be said a nightmare of match and then winning on the series where with every match some or the other player was getting injured and winning the test series outside the subcontinent speaking fact in itself that what kind of a leader he was for the Indian team.
Now talking about Cheteshwar Pujara Or what commentators like Aakash Chopra have given him the name, Cheteshwar Dependable Pujara that itself justifies that what kind of a dependable player he was for the team when Rahul Dravid "The Wall" said goodbye to cricket a whole lot of discussion went on that who will be the one to take the no. 3 spot in the team because those were some huge - huge shoes to be filled because in cricket no. 3 spot is said to be as important as the opening because you might not face the fist ball but you could be the one to face the second ball of the match and then came Cheteshwar Pujara, When he played many people and experts said that there's something about this man something that's near about of Rahul Dravid and that was he knew how to drain out the opposition just like Rahul did but just lifting his arms and letting the ball go into the keepers hands and when all this exercise was done the he use to pounce on the rival team as the leopard time it's jump to perfection before hunting it's prey down. And who could forget the contribution of this man in the Border Gavaskar trophy where he didn't make those daddy hundreds or double hundreds that he's know for instead he took innumerable body blows for the team which were not less than taking bullets that helped the team in saving the test match that resulted in a series win for India.
But now with a new test captian and the absence of veterans like these makes certain things pretty clear team India looking forward towards the future and is leaving the old one's behind, will these two make a comeback? Well we don't know as This question remains unanswered that "Is this the end of the road for Pujara & Rahane?
Shivansh Mehrotra.
