Team India will begin the four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Nagpur on Thursday (February 9). Cheteshwar Pujara has been one of the pillars of the national team when it comes to playing against Australia and needs just 107 more runs to complete 2,000 Test runs against the Aussies. The veteran India batter is expected to play his landmark 100th Test later in the series in Delhi.


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However, former India selector and left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi has suggested that World No. 1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav should replace Pujara in the Playing XI for the series opener in Nagpur.


Pujara’s spot has never been in doubt in the build-up to the series especially after his impressive scores in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh last December, where he had scored a century and a 90 in the first Test. Suryakumar or ‘SKY’, on the other hand, is yet to make his debut in Test cricket.


Joshi admitted that it was a tough choice between the two but added that Suryakumar should get the nod, at No.3, ahead of Pujara in the Nagpur Test. “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,” he tweeted.



Joshi’s former Karnataka teammate and ex-India pacer Dodda Ganesh blasted him for making this suggestion. “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," Dodda Ganesh tweeted.



In 98 Tests, Pujara has notched up 7,014 runs at an average of 44.39 with 19 hundreds and 34 fifties till date. India currently hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after winning the last series in Australia 2-1.