Pat Cummins acknowledges Team India’s Cheteshwar Pujara & Ajinkya Rahane void for BGT 2024-25

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane played massive roles in the last two Border-Gavaskar Trophies (BGT) in Australia. Both of the series Down Under were won by the Indian cricket team thanks to the senior pros. Pujara was Team India’s best batter across the two series, while Rahane scored runs and was the captain of the side in three of the last four matches. 

Pujara & Rahane will be missed

Neither are part of the Indian team for the 2024-25 BGT. Admittedly, there was a dip in form, and both were deservingly dropped from the side, with domestic performers replacing them. But there will be a void without Pujara and Rahane. With uncertainty over Rohit Sharma’s availability for the India vs Australia 1st Test, only Virat Kohli remains an experienced batter who’ll definitely be a part of India’s XI. Shubman Gill, who also found success last time around, isn’t fit for selection in Perth either. 

Pat Cummins, Australia’s Test captain, also acknowledged that both contributed immensely to India’s last two wins. “They (Rahane and Pujara) both scored some really important innings,” he told the Times of India during an online media interaction.

Cheteshwar Pujara & Ajinkya Rahane’s Test record in Australia

Australia’s tormentor-in-chief, Cheteswar Pujara

The Aussies really hate Pujara. He might not take the gave away from them in a jiffy like Rishabh Pant, but he really grinded them out. In the 2018-19 BGT, which was India or any Asian team’s first-ever Test series victory in Australia, Pujara faced 1257 balls alone and was the highest scorer. The next two best batters combined faced 1157 deliveries.

“It was always great playing against Pujara. He was one of those guys who never really felt like he was getting away from you. But then he would bat, and bat, and bat, and bat,” Cummins said.

In the 2020-21 series, Pujara scored half the runs (271 vs 521) but faced the most deliveries yet again (928). But Cummins got the better of him in five of the eight innings as he employed a new tactic for the master blocker. “I always really enjoyed the contest against him. Some days he won, other days I won. So, it’s going to feel a bit different without him,” the Australian captain added.

India’s squad for BGT 2024-25

Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed