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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Team India's Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against West Indies on Friday, June 23. Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara has faced an axe after he failed in the recently concluded World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia.
He was even dropped last year before the home series against Sri Lanka. After piling a mountain of runs in county cricket, the selectors recalled him for the lone Test against England at Edgbaston later in the year. Pujara managed to hold on to his position in the playing XI since then before losing it now.
The Saurashtra batter has been averaging a paltry 29.69 since 2020 in Test cricket, which might have prompted the selectors to take a tough call. As Team India's WTC 2023-25 cycle will commence with the West Indies series, the selectors have induced fresh faces into the set-up. Seasoned pacer Umesh Yadav also lost his place after failing in the WTC final.
Fringe players Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal made their way into the main squad. One of them will take Pujara's place in the Test playing XI in the upcoming series. Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini, and Shardul Thakur will handle the pace bowling department in Mohammed Shami's absence.
Several consistent domestic performers like Abhimanyu Eashwaran and Sarfaraz Khan did not reap the rewards for their hard work in the Ranji trophy as they got overlooked yet again. Fans took note of the Test squad and voiced their thoughts by sharing memes on Instagram and Twitter.
Here are some of the best memes:
Indian Test squad for West Indies series
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.
Do you agree with the decisions made by the selectors? Sound off your opinions on the squad in the comments section.
