Cheteshwar Pujara Is Backbone Of Team India. Hope He's Rested, Not Dropped: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh, one of India's most successful spinners, reckoned that Cheteshwar Pujara has played over 100 Test matches and still has it in him to continue to do well for India.

Cheteshwar Pujara of India looks dejected after being dismissed by Pat Cummins of Australia during day four of the ICC World Test Championship Final between Australia and India at The Oval on June 10, 2023 in London, England.

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Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh isn't too pleased with the selectors' decision to drop Cheteshwar Pujara from India's squad for the West Indies tour. The legendary India off-spinner hopes that Pujara has been rested and not dropped. He feels that the parameter should be the same for everyone and if Pujara has been dropped then some of  the other Indian batters whose averages are equally poor in the last 1-1.5 years should also have been dropped.

Harbhajan, one of India's most successful spinners, reckoned that Pujara has played over 100 Test matches and still has it in him to continue to do well for India. He also hopes that the selectors have given a clear communication to Pujara before taking the call and the batter deserves respect for what he has done for the country for so many years.

"Cheteshwar Pujara isn't there, which makes me worried. He has been a big player for India. Hopefully, he's also given a break and not dropped. Pujara is the backbone of this team. If you're dropping him, then the averages of other batters haven't been good either. The benchmarks should be same for all players, no matter how big a player you are," Harbhajan said in a video uploaded on his official YouTube channel.

"If you don't consider Pujara a key player... by that logic, others aren't key players either. There shouldn't be question marks about his career. India won series in Australia and led in England and wherever India played good, he has contributed efficiently. He hasn't performed quite consistently in the past 1-1.5 years... but then have a look at other batters as well. Almost similar figures. So, to single him out isn't right," he added.

Another India cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar had also pointed out that it was unfair to single out Pujara after a collective failure. 

"Why has he been dropped? Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures. He has been a loyal servant of India cricket. A loyal and quiet servant. A loyal and quiet achiever. But because he does not have millions of followers on platforms who will make a noise in case he gets dropped, you drop him. That is something beyond understanding. What is the criteria of dropping him and keeping the others who failed? I do not know because nowadays, there is no media interaction with the selection committee chairman," Gavaskar said in an interaction with Sports Today.