Rohit Sharma hints at end of Cheteshwar Pujara-Ajinkya Rahane's Test career

India skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday hinted that the Test career of veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane might not be revived as the focus has shifted to giving more opportunities to younger playersOnce Virat Kohli decided to skip the first two matches against England the possibility of including either Pujara or Rahane to the India squad for the IND vs ENG Test series was discussed widely but if one is aware about the thought process of current selection panel headed by Ajit Agarkar they are not in a mood to look backAs it turned out India opted to bring in Rajat Patidar as Kohlis replacement in the IND vs ENG Test series Rohit explained the rationale behind the decision to bring in PatidarLook actually we did think about it going back to a senior player But all these younger players when are they going to get their opportunity Thats something we thought I thought as well Rohit said during his prematch press conferenceHowever Rohit said leaving out some of the senior pros was not an easy decision to makeAlso ReadWill lsquoBazballrsquo unleash its artistry in IndiaRahanes last appearance for India was against the West Indies at Port of Spain in mid2023 while Pujara was dropped after the World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval last yearLeaving out an experienced player or not considering them is very hard The amount of runs theyve scored the kind of experience theyve had the amount of games they have won for us you know its very hard to ignore all of that the skipper had all empathy for his longtime teammatesBut you know you sometimes have to bring certain players into your setup as well You have to give them favourable conditions as you dont want to expose them on foreign doors where theyve not played before So I think its important that we try and get some of these youngsters an opportunity said RohitRohits words in fact carried a lot of merit as well Patidar has been in blazing form of late cracking a 111 in twoday practice game match followed by a majestic 151 for India A against the England Lions in the first unofficial Test at AhmedabadThe 30yearold middleorder batter is also a notable performer in the domestic circuit having played 55 matches since 2015 He has made 4000 runs at a shade over 45 with 12 hundreds in FirstClass cricket and those numbers are certainly rewardworthyPerhaps as an afterthought Rohit added that the doors to Indian team was not closed with a final thud on anyoneBy no means the doors are closed for anyone you know as long as they stay fit and keep scoring runs Anyone will be welcomed back into the setup said the MumbaikarBut the ensuing words clearly gave away his mindset and by an extension how the future is going to unfold as far as the team selection is concernedClearly the agefactor of the veterans in the side including Rohit himself was weighing on his mind Rohit 36 Virat Kohli 35 R Ashwin 37 Ravindra Jadeja 35 are closer to the evening of their careers than ever beforeHaving said that I think its important to look at some of the other players as well We dont want to end up in a place where weve got you know out of 11 guys seven or eight guys who have barely played 25 Test matches between them So its important that whenever you have the opportunity give them some game time said RohitWith agency inputs