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The Indian selectors announced the squad for the Test Series against West Indies and there were some exclusions which left everyone surprised. Prithvi Shaw, Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur earned a Test call-up, while triple centurion Karun Nair's exclusion has surprised everyone, but the exclusion of India's limited-overs vice-captain, Rohit Sharma, too has raised many eyebrows considering his recent form.
Sharma has been left out of the Test team since the second Test in South Africa. He had a below par Test Series and was ineffective in the limited overs format too. In the Test series, he could accumulate only 78 runs in 4 innings at an average of 19.50.
His insipid performance in the Test series saw him being dropped from the third Test and was also left out from the one-off historic Test against Afghanistan. He was also not considered for the England Test series also and is now left out of the squad for the Test series against Windies too.
The Indian opening batsman recently led India to their seventh Asia Cup triumph. He was prolific in the tournament and was the second highest run-getter in the tournament only behind teammate Shikhar Dhawan.
Rohit Sharma has been phenomenal in limited overs in recent years and has the highest average among openers in recent years but is not as effective in the Test format. Since his debut in 2013 Sharma has played 25 Tests for India scoring 1479 runs at an average of 39.97.
Considering his recent form and the fact that the Test is being played on home soil, his exclusion from the Test squad has left some former cricketers surprised. This includes retired cricketer Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh.
Here is what they said:
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