Cheteshwar Pujara will play for Yorkshire in County Cricket. (Express File Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has stirred up a fresh debate by questioning the scheduling of the Afghanistan Test before India’s crucial tour to England. The former chief selector stated that primary importance should be given to England series and to bring back players like Cheteshwar Pujara mid-way from their county stint to play just one Test in June defies logic. Pujara along with Ishant Sharma have been plying their trade in county cricket after failing to land an IPL contract. They will be returning to India for Afghanistan’s maiden Test match against India on June 14.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai Vengsarkar said, “To be honest with you, I feel that the Afghanistan Test is wrongly scheduled because they (the BCCI) should’ve concentrated more on the England tour. (I know that) The Indian A team is going (to England). Of course, there is an FTP, there is a Test programme, and you’ve to adhere to it. But then, this is a Test match. You can’t take it lightly. His is Afghanistan’s first match, and they must be very keen to establish themselves at the international level.”
“If I was a selector, I would’ve asked (Cheteshwar) Pujara also to stay back and play county cricket because these are the guys who’re going to play in England. Playing in India against Afghanistan, for the time, makes no sense. Pujara’s coming back from England to play Afghanistan defies logic to me, because he was playing in county cricket, where, at the moment, he isn’t very consistent. So, he would’ve got more chances to play in England, scored runs and got into the groove,” Vengsarkar added.
However, Vengsarkar did concur with India skipper Virat Kohli’s decision to skip the Afghanistan Test to adapt to English conditions.
“It’s a good decision. He will get time to acclimatise to the conditions. The last tour wasn’t very good for him. So it (the county stint) is very critical for him. So he’s very keen to there early, which is a good thing,” he signed off by saying.