NEW DELHI: Cheteshwar Pujara has been India's batting mainstay in Test cricket and there is no iota of doubt that the batter will be a part of the playing eleven in the Test series against Australia starting Thursday in Nagpur.
But the former India selector and player Sunil Joshi triggered a controversy by picking his eleven which consists of Suryakumar Yadav in place of Pujara for the first Test.
Joshi, however, deliberated between the two but added that Suryakumar should get the nod, at No.3, ahead of Pujara in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"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 tweet drew criticism from all quarters including former cricketer Dodda Ganesh who questioned his "audacity" to replace Pujara in Test cricket with someone who is yet to make a debut.
"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," Ganesh tweeted.