Out of favour India batter Cheteshwar Pujara is hoping to return to the Indian team during the upcoming five-match series against England. He added that the batting unit needs to deliver for India to win the England series.
Cheteshwar Pujara is eyeing a return to the Test squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against England. The 37-year-old featured in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2023, and hasn’t been considered for selection for red-ball cricket since. He played in county cricket and also featured in the Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra but the selectors haven’t considered him for selection. So much so, that he wasn’t called up for the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup in 2024.
In the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Pujara’s name was heavily discussed in the media but the selectors didn’t consider him and preferred youngster Nitish Kumar Reddy instead. Even when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were struggling to find runs, Pujara wasn’t called. Nevertheless, the Rajkot-born didn’t give up on his goal and stated that if given a chance in the England series, he would grab the opportunity with both hands.
“I’m playing domestic cricket. If given a chance, I’m ready to grab it with both hands. The hunger is even more. When you are older, you need to work even harder,” Pujara said in Trailblazers 3.0 conclave.
Speaking about India’s chances in the England series, the veteran batter noted that it will be important for the team to pup good totals on the board. He believes that the bowling department is sorted and expects the team to do well in the series.
“We have the bowling. We need to put runs on the board. And we have the players to do that. We have to respect the bowling and the conditions. I won’t say that we don’t have a chance,” he added.
Pujara also believes that playing the Champions Trophy entirely in Dubai didn’t establish that the Rohit Sharma-led side was handed a favour. He noted that the schedule was released much ahead of time.
