'Unfair and shameful' - Twitter reacts as BCCI drops senior players' lot from Sri Lanka Tests

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced India’s Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka starting March four. Rohit Sharma has been named skipper and he would now be leading the Indian team in all three formats. However, the selectors have decided to make some tough decisions with an eye on the future and also supposedly taking the current ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023 cycle into consideration.

The senior batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have been excluded from the squad for the home Test series against Sri Lanka owing to their underwhelming performances in the last year and apart from these two, veteran pacer Ishant Sharma and wicketkeeper- batter Wriddhiman Saha have also failed to find a spot as well. The selectors have made some notable inclusions in India’s red-ball squad for the Test series.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the axing of senior players

This is very unfair and shameful from BCCI. It's been an hour and they have still not shared any farewell tribute for Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. #INDvSL

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) February 19, 2022

Nobody can separate Rahane and Pujara. Not even BCCI. Not even Rohit. Not even Jay Shah. Not even batting form.

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) February 19, 2022

#pujara and #rahane dropped from test side:
Happy Indian team fans:#IndianCricketTeam #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/IfQ4WcqJ0t

— Aryan sharma (@iAryan_Sharma) February 19, 2022

Need to appreciate the legends that Rahane and Pujara have been for India over the years. #INDvSL

— Abhishek Zagade (@AbhishekZagade7) February 19, 2022

Just wishing and hoping Pujara and Rahane work on their game by rectifying the flaws and give a solid comeback with consistency.#pujara #Rahane #IndianCricketTeam #India #BCCIPolitics

— Venkat. (@alwaysKKR) February 19, 2022

Pujara and Rahane might still have a chance for a comeback to the test side if they score big in domestic cricket but feels Iike Saha and Ishant might've played their last tests!

— Anirudh (@OffDrive_) February 19, 2022

Don't know about Rahane and Pujara but Ishant Sharma being left out from the test squad is the real surprise. Didn't expect this to happen..

— Sameet Bhaturkar (@SameetBhaturkar) February 19, 2022

Jokes apart , we need to thank Pujara and Rahane for their contribution . Pujara won us the BGT 2018-19 no cap and Rahane had a huge role in BGT 2020-21. In their peak they made our middle order formidable

— aryan (@aryannjha27) February 19, 2022

End of Rahane Pujara and Saha. Talent makes sweeping changes in the team.

— Elite Banker💰 (@coolhandsree) February 19, 2022

Good decision to appoint Hitman Rohit as capt & Bumrah as his deputy.

Good to see Pujara & Rahane out of list

New era begins for Men in Blue. #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/KA75SBTqq6

— Sushil Gaikwad IRTS (@onlysushil) February 19, 2022

Feeling sad for Pujara mostly. Guy having enough potential but unfortunately he has to make a place for someone.. the circle goes on.

— sudhanshu' (@whoshud) February 19, 2022

PuRane nahi rahe team me 😞

— Aarohi Tripathy 🇮🇳 (@aarohi_vns) February 19, 2022

Senior players dropped for Sri Lanka Test series

Ajinkya Rahane scored 136 runs at 22.66 and Cheteshwar Pujara scored 124 runs at 20.66 during the South Africa tour including a half-century each. Meanwhile, Saha has been traveling with the Indian team as a reserve wicketkeeper for the last one year ever since their historic 2-1 Test series triumph down under in January 2021. Already out of the scheme of things in white-ball cricket, Ishant Sharma then became regular in the longest format. After the home series against New Zealand last year, Ishant Sharma was benched during the South Africa series.

Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari have been added to bolster the middle-order and the pace attack looks steady with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umesh Yadav.  The series opener will be played at the PCA Stadium in Mohali whereas the second and final game would be contested at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 12. The second Test match is all set to be a pink-ball affair that would be played under lights.

The Indian team would be hoping to bounce back after losing the Test series against the Proteas from a position of strength.