Former chief selector stokes controversy as he removes Cheteshwar Pujara from his India XI

Former India chief selector Sunil Joshi on Tuesday stoked a massive controversy after he left out Cheteshwar Pujara from his playing XI for the first Test match against Australia. Joshi took to his official Twitter handle to pick the possible playing XI for the Rohit Sharma-led side ahead of the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Joshi triggered the controversy after he left out Pujara to make room for swash-buckling player Suryakumar Yadav in the Indian lineup. Joshi said that he wants the Indian team management to try Suryakumar in the first Test. 

Here's Sunil Joshi's India XI

1. Rohit Sharma
2. Shubman Gill 
3. Suryakumar Yadav 
4. Virat Kohli
5. KL Rahul 
6. KS Bharat 
7. R Ashwin
8. Ravindra Jadeja
9. Kuldeep Yadav 
10. Mohammed Shami 
11. Mohammed Siraj

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

— Sunil Joshi | 🇮🇳 ಸುನಿಲ್ ಜೋಶಿ (@SunilJoshi_Spin) February 7, 2023

Netizens took to the comment section of the post to slam Joshi for leaving out Pujara from his India XI. "The sheer embarrassment that is coming out of the realization that someone with a ball knowledge like this was the chief selector for a while," one individual wrote. "How can you make someone a selector of Indian team who thinks like this. The player who played most important role in winning last 2-3 #BGT who took body blows for team, the person who has scored a 100 & 90 in the last series. How on earth you can question his place in the team," another user commented. 

Now we got the answer on how many deserved cricketers were brutally ignored during your tenure .

— Sunil Menon (@naatil_evideya) February 7, 2023

Were you really the national team selector, or meagre seat warming agent?

Dropping Pujara is a sin against Australia, his favorite opposition 🤦

— Akshara (@Akshacriccrazy) February 7, 2023

Karnataka people right now 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Yq0BQqL5Yt

— Diamond Biscuit (@DiamondBiskit) February 7, 2023

Looks like you never played cricket!!!

— ABHIJIT NAIR 🏏🇦🇺 (@Rahul_bill) February 7, 2023

Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Full squads

India's squad (first two Tests): Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

Australia's squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

FIXTURES

1st Test, Nagpur: February 9-13 - 9:30 pm IST
2nd Test, Delhi: February 17-21 - 9:30 pm IST
3rd Test, Dharamsala: March 1-5 - 9:30 pm IST
4th Test, Ahmedabad: March 9-13 - 9:30 pm IST

Image: AP/Twitter