"It will be difficult for Pujara to make a comeback into the Indian team" - Wasim Jaffer

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer feels veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara will find it tough to make a comeback into the Indian team.

After a string of low scores, Pujara was dropped by the Indian team for the West Indies tour, and he looked out of form in the World Test Championship (WTC) final as well, despite scoring heaps of runs in County cricket.

Jaffer shed light on the importance of blooding fresh faces into the Indian team with the new WTC cycle and also spoke about players like Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant who will be in the mix once fit.

Speaking in a media interaction, here's what Wasim Jaffer, who is also an expert for JioCinema, had to say about Cheteshwar Pujara:

"I feel it will be difficult for Pujara to make a comeback into the Indian team going forward. You have to look forward to younger players and fresh faces in the new World Test Championship cycle. Shreyas Iyer will come back and possibly Rishabh Pant will too at some point. Now you have Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill as well. So I feel it will be difficult for Pujara to make a comeback."

Wasim Jaffer also hailed Yashasvi Jaiswal for his incredible 171 on his international debut in Dominica.

He added:

"It is a dream start for Yashasvi and I feel he is on the right track. I have known him since 2013-14 but the way he has progressed in the past one-and-a-half years, it has been phenomenal. For a 20-21-year-old player to play in such a way under pressure, I think he has taken his game to the next level. It goes to show that he is a three-format player. He can get 50 off 13 balls in the IPL and also bat a whole day in a Test."

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Wasim Jaffer on Ajinkya Rahane's form

India Nets Session

Ajinkya Rahane hasn't been able to continue his good form from the WTC final into the West Indies tour.

Wasim Jaffer feels that had Rahane not lost his form at the wrong time, he could have been India's Test captain after Virat Kohli.

On this, Jaffer stated:

"The way Ajinkya Rahane led the Indian team in Australia after the 36 all-out, had he maintained his good form, he would have been the next Test captain. India sees a good leader in him. But if he doesn’t score runs, it could be difficult for him. He needs to score runs or else there are people behind and has to show consistency. Although he has played 80-90 Tests, consistency has been an issue."

Having just been made the vice captain in Tests for the West Indies tour, it will be interesting to see how long India remains patient with Rahane if he gets a few more low scores.