MUMBAI: Indian selectors decided to stick with inconsistent middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma for the three-Test home series against New Zealand and that means Saurashtra right-hander Cheteshwar Pujara will have to fight it out with the Mumbaikar for a spot in the playing XI. However, former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels Pujara should at once be given the nod ahead of Rohit, reported India Today.

Rohit mustered only 9 and 41 from two innings in the third Test against West Indies at Gros Islet the only time he got a chance to play in the series. He also did not do well in the first innings of the ongoing Duleep Trophy final in Greater Noida after being specifically included in one of the teams — India Blue.

Incidentally, Test skipper Virat Kohli, after consultation with the team management, decided to drop Pujara, who managed to score only 62 runs in the first two Tests against the Calypso Kings, but Ganguly felt that Pujara should be inducted in the XI as Rohit has failed to replicate his ODI form in Tests.
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“I agree with the system that whoever is picked in the Indian team is being given a long rope. But I think Rohit Sharma’s talent in Test cricket has not pushed forward as it has done in the limited-overs formats. He has struggled more on overseas tours and on pitches which offer more seam and bounce.

“I think he has got a fair rope, but I don’t think the selectors are going to find anything more about Rohit with the 13 Test matches we play in India. I would pick Pujara any day ahead of Rohit because he’s a better player at the Test level. His record in India is as good as Rohit and he got a hundred in South Africa as well,” Ganguly told India Today.
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Pujara was heavily criticised for his snail’s paced innings of 46 which came off 159 balls and it was assumed that Rohit was drafted into the team for the Gros Islet Test due to his attacking abilities. However, Gangily wasn’t pleased with the explanation.

“Pujara was left out after the Jamaica Test where everybody said he was a bit slow to score and I was completely surprised by those comments. You need a No. 3 batsman like that, imagine Rahul Dravid, he would change his game according to situations. On seaming pitches you cannot just go and hit through the line,” he added.

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