"The audacity...": Ex-fast bowler slams Joshi's idea of replacing Pujara with Suryakumar Yadav

Scoring at an average of 44.4, Pujara has played 98 matches accumulating over 7000 runs in his career. His strike rate hovering around 44 has been a focal point in the age of 'bazball' cricket -- a style England have successfully assimilated under captain Ben Stokes.

Hyderabad:After ex-BCCI selector Sunil Joshi swapped Cheteshwar Pujara with Suryakumar Yadav when he declared his playing XI for the Border Gavaskar series in a tweet, former India fast bowler Dodda Ganesh expressed his dismay and wondered at the "audacity" of replacing the veteran batter with the one who is yet to make his debut.

In a tweet, Joshi had said, "Will India line up like this in the first test? Deliberation between Pujara & Surya,a tough draw between both lefties Kuldeep &Axar. Here's my XI: R Sharma, Shubhman Gill, Surya (should get first look in ), V Kohli, KL Rahul, KS Bharat, R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Kuldeep Y, M Shami, M Siraj."

Scoring at an average of 44.4, Pujara has played 98 matches accumulating over 7000 runs in his career. His strike rate hovering around 44 has been a focal point in the age of 'bazball' cricket -- a style England have successfully assimilated under captain Ben Stokes.

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The idea is to score quickly on difficult pitches where the batter can be dismissed at any given point and is never actually 'settled'. And the experts believe that it's better to put runs on board that will give edge to the batting team than continue blocking deliveries for survival.

Nevertheless, the tweet by Joshi didn't sit well with others, Ganesh among them, who said, "One of the ex-selectors wants Surya to be chosen ahead of Pujara for tests. Let that sink in. I mean, the audacity to even think that one can replace Pujara with someone who's yet to play a Test, boggles my mind. No wonder poor Pujara has been a scapegoat all his life #BGT2023."

India's former head coach Ravi Shastri, without replacing Pujara believes in the idea of having a player of Suryakumar Yadav's calibre as his quick innings has the potential to turn the match in India's favour.

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"If you want to do well in India, you have got to rotate the strike and not let bowlers bowl maidens at you. Blocking won't help. A quick 30 or 40 could decide the fate of game. He (Surya) can get (the runs) quickly and disrupt the opposition. India should back themselves to win by two-match margin," he said.

Pujara's intent has been questioned multiple times, but it is worth remembering that he was India's spine in the past two Border Gavaskar series in Australia that India won.

The Border Gavaskar series between India and Australia starts on 9th February.