‘Seedha Kohli ka naam leta’ - Sunil Gavaskar’s takes indirect dig at Virat Kohli, calls Cheteshwar Pujara ‘Scapegoat’ for getting dropped from Test squad of WI tour

On 23 June 2023, the Test and ODI squad of Team India for the upcoming West Indies tour got announced. However, Cheteshwar Pujara got dropped from the Test squad. India lost the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. Pujara and other batters failed miserably in that match. But, only Pujara got dropped while others managed to retain their places in the squad. 

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Regarding that, the former Team India cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar took an indirect dig at Virat Kohli. In an interview with Sports Today, he claimed that Pujara doesn't have millions of followers on whatever platform to raise noise when he gets dropped. Fans seemed that it was a dig at Kohli as he has millions of followers on social media. Noises get erupted when he gets dropped or anyone makes any point against him. 

“What is the criteria of dropping him and keeping the others who failed?” - Sunil Gavaskar

During that interview, Gavaskar said: "Why has he been dropped? Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures. He has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket. A loyal and quiet servant. A loyal and quiet achiever. But because he does not have millions of followers on platforms who will make a noise in case he gets dropped, you drop him. That is something beyond understanding. What is the criteria of dropping him and keeping the others who failed? I do not know because nowadays, there is no media interaction with the selection committee chairman."

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"He has been playing country cricket. So, he has played a lot of red-call cricket and he knows what it is about. Today, people can play till they are 39-40 years old and as long as you are producing runs, I do not think age should be a factor. Apart from (Ajinkya) Rahane, the batting completely failed. Why Pujara has been made the fall guy is something the selectors will have to explain," he further added. Notably, since 2020, Pujara has scored only one century in 52 innings of 28 Tests with a poor average of 29.69.

Here is how fans have reacted:

What he did for the Indian cricket team, what his contribution in 83 WC,

— Ramesh (@Virat_admirer) June 24, 2023

True that . Pujara has better average than Rahane . Kohli averages same as Pujara . Only Rohit has 40 plus since WTC final 2020 .

— SR Ramnarayan (@RamnarayanSr) June 24, 2023

True , he dedicated entire his career to test cricket, it's unfair to drop him.

— Sravan Kumar (@SravanK77937932) June 24, 2023

He failed in both the WTC finals , so he has been dropped

Whereas Kohli hit a 40 in both the games

— Abhishek (@Abhi_Kohli123) June 24, 2023

Sunny G is spot on these days :)

— Pichaa Paati (@Pichaa_paati) June 24, 2023

Gavaskar is a true sportsman!
Virat is yet not dropped! What a shocker...

— Yash (@Lorrd_Voldemort) June 24, 2023

Sunil here indirectly said to Virat who uses “Instagram” as a medium to raise noise to his millions of followers. Virat fans must note this.

— Sunny 😎 (@being_sunny1) June 24, 2023

Sunny G always on 🎯

— Ujjwal Bhangale (@BhangaleUjjwal) June 24, 2023

Bodied chamiya

— TANGENT (@pra_tea_k) June 24, 2023