Cheteshwar Pujara to feature in Duleep Trophy after snub from Test squad for West Indies Tour - Reports

Cheteshwar Pujara will play for West Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy after being dropped from the Indian Test squad for the tour of West Indies, as per the Times of India.

India will tour the West Indies for their first international assignment after the World Test Championship Final. The tour starts with a two-Test series, with the first match at Dominica beginning on July 12. The series marks the commencement of India's 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle.

Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav will reportedly replace Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy. West Zone will take on the winner of the fixture between Central and East Zone in the semifinal, starting July 5.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Test squad for the West Indies tour, including both Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

While Gaikwad was also selected as a standby player for the recently concluded WTC Final against Australia, he opted out due to his marriage and was later replaced by Jaiswal.

As for Pujara, who endured a dismal outing in the WTC Final with scores of 14 and 27, a comeback might be a bridge too far, with the team likely to transition during the upcoming WTC cycle.

However, sources from TOI have stated that it may not be all doom and gloom for the veteran batter. It is reported that the selectors and head coach Rahul Dravid wanted to try out youngsters on the West Indian tour.

Pujara has received their communication on his possible comeback to the side should he score runs in domestic cricket.

Despite having tremendous success in first-class cricket, the 35-year-old has not been able to take that form into the international arena. Pujara has scored just 181 runs in five Tests this year at an average of 25.85, with no centuries.

He has been underachieving since 2020 in the longer format, averaging a meagre 29.69 in 28 Tests with just a lone century to his name against Bangladesh.

Is this the end of the road for Pujara?

The other major news from the Indian Test squad selection was the announcement of senior batter Ajinkya Rahane as the vice-captain.

Rahane, after being dropped from the Test squad following the South Africa tour in 2021-22, returned for the WTC Final thanks to an impressive showing in the 2022-23 Ranji season.

The 35-year-old grabbed his opportunity with both hands in the grand finale by top scoring for India in their first innings with 89 and adding another valuable 46 in the second essay. Pujara will look to his teammate for inspiration as he tries to make one final push in domestic cricket for selection to the Indian Test team.

Team India have also rested pace spearhead Mohammad Shami for the West Indian tour following his hectic season with the IPL and WTC Final.

The selectors have also decided to retain the two wicketkeepers from the WTC Final squad - KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan.

Led by Rohit Sharma, the Indians will look to get off to a winning start and qualify for their third successive WTC final.

India squad for the Test series against the West Indies

Indian Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini