Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has come down hard on underfire batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who have been due for runs for quite some time now. Gavaskar is of the opinion that both these veterans should be dropped for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka.

Incidentally, Rahanae has struggled for form since his glorious century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2020 that shifted the momentum in India’s favour eventually helping the side beat Australia in their backyard twice in a row. On the other, Pujara has not scored a century for almost three years now.

Sunil Gavaskar who had earlier backed the duo to come good has now felt that their places will be up for grabs in the Sri Lanka series. The veteran believes Shreyas Iyer will be a good bet to replace Ajinkya Rahane.

“I think that not just Ajinkya Rahane (will be out of the team). Shreyas Iyer got an opportunity in the Test series against New Zealand and he scored a well-crafted century. He scored decent runs throughout the series, so I believe there will be two vacant places in the XI,” Sunil Gavaskar said while commentating.

On the other hand, Sunil Gavaskar backed Hanuma Vihari to take up the No.3 role in place of Cheteshwar Pujara.

“I think both Pujara and Rahane will be dropped from the team for the Sri Lanka series. Iyer and Vihari will both play. We’ll have to see who plays at no.3. Hanuma Vihari may take Pujara’s place and Shreyas Iyer could be no.5 in place of Rahane, but we will have to see. Nevertheless, I think there will certainly be two spots up for grabs against Sri Lanka,” Gavaskar added.

India are scheduled to play a three-match Test series against Sri Lanka on home soil in March.

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