Wasim Jaffer has expressed surprise over Ruturaj Gaikwad's inclusion in the Test team.
While Cheteshwar Pujara was left out of the Test team, Ajinkya Rahane was named the vice-captain after his successful comeback to the side earlier this month in the WTC final against Australia.
Moreover, young batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad were picked in the Test squad whereas domestic performers like Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyank Panchal were once again ignored.
Sharing his two cents on India’s Test squad, former opener Wasim Jaffer expressed surprise over the inclusion of Gaikwad, who has a First-Class average of 42.19 as opposed to Easwaran and Panchal’s average of 47.85 and 47.02 respectively.
“Easwaran and Panchal have also been doing hard yards in Ranji and India A, knocking on Test doors for a long time. Just because they don’t play IPL, is it a case of out of sight out of mind? How did Ruturaj jump the queue?" Jaffer wrote on Twitter.
It seems that Jaffer’s comment didn’t go down well with former India selector Dilip Vengsarkar, who wants the critics to wait and observe how Gaikwad performs in red-ball cricket. He also dismissed the talks of Maharashtra batter jumping the queue.
“Red ball or white-ball doesn’t matter. It is all the same. A good player will adjust to all formats. The thing we have to wait to see is how he performs in Test cricket. And I don’t understand this queue. Every player is in contention,” Vengsarkar said while speaking to The Indian Express.
Gaikwad has already represented India in the T20I and ODI formats although he is yet to establish himself in the white-ball team. On the other hand, Jaiswal is yet to make his India debut in any format.
India will play two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is on the tour of West Indies. The tour will get underway with the Test series on July 12 and will run until August 13.