Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has questioned why the senior Indian players are absent from the Duleep Trophy. Basit has said that if Pujara had opted to play for the Test squad, he would have turned out to be a crucial batter for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin have been exempted from the Duleep trophy.
While Pujara and Rahane have fallen out, Samson and Rinku have also been notable miss from the Duleep Trophy teams. Basit said that he is puzzled over the fact that some names have been left out.
“I saw the teams and I an surprised that 3-4 names are not there. Ajinkya Rahane is not there. Cheteshwar Pujara is not there. Sanju Samson is not there. Rinku Singh is not there. Shivam Dube has been picked. I think he is being readied as an all-rounder,” said Basit Ali.
“Pujara could have been of good use in Australia. I am surprised that he is not there despite Gautam Gambhir being there. Even Rinku Singh is not there. Again, considering the Gambhir factor, this is rather surprising,” Basit added.
The Duleep Trophy will have international cricket stars such as Shubhman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammad Siraj.
