‘Impossible to Put Into Words’ Cheteshwar Pujara Announces Retirement from All Forms of Cricket
Mumbai (India) – The veteran Indian Test cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara announced that he was retiring from Indian Cricket, ending a 13-year career. The 37-year-old made his announcement via the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He expressed gratitude for the journey he had taken representing India.
It’s hard to describe what wearing the Indian jersey and singing the national anthem meant. As they say, “all good things come to an ending, so with great gratitude, I’ve decided to retire from Indian cricket, Pujara said in his post.
Saurashtra’s batsman has retired, marking the end of an era in Indian Test Cricket. After his debut for India in 2010, Pujara went on to play 103 tests and five ODIs, establishing himself among the best middle-order players in Indian cricket history. In his career, he scored 19 hundreds and 35 half-centuries. He amassed 7,195 test runs with an average of 43.60.
Pujara was particularly impressive at home, scoring 3,839 runs with an average of 52.58. Over a period of ten years, Pujara was India’s reliable No. He played a crucial role in many of India’s greatest Test wins, both domestically and abroad. In June 2023, his last Test was the World Test Championship Final against Australia.
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India has been looking at other options for the top order since this match. Pujara, however, continued to play red-ball cricket, playing for Saurashtra and Sussex respectively in the County Championship. This showed his passion for this longer form of cricket.
Pujara began his Test career with promise in August 2012, when he made his first 100 against New Zealand at Hyderabad. He scored his first century against England in August 2012, and then a second hundred at the Wankhede Test two months later. In 2013, he was able to demonstrate his ability to bat for long periods of time in a drawn-out Test in Johannesburg, where he scored an impressive 153 in the second innings, after batting nearly six hours.
In Colombo, he scored a patient and impressive 145 runs off just 289 balls. In 2018, during India’s tour, his resilience was highlighted when he scored an unbeaten score of 132 in Southampton. Virat Kohli scored 46 in the same innings. This shows Pujara’s resilience under pressure.
In the Ranchi Test, he was at the crease for 672 minutes in total and took 525 balls to reach a score of 102. Pujara is one of three Indians – ML Jaisimha, Ravi Shastri – who have batted for all five days in a test match.
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Pujara made his greatest contribution during India’s back-to-back historic Test Series victories in Australia. In India’s 2018-19 tour, Pujara was instrumental to India’s historic first-ever test series victory Down Under. He scored three hundreds in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. In the 2020-21 Tour, his performance further solidified his legacy. He faced 928 balls across four Tests and took on Australia’s pace attack, which included Pat Cummins (Pat Cummins), Josh Hazlewood (Mitch Starc) and Mitchell Starc.
Pujara showed extraordinary resilience and grit during that tour. He took numerous blows to the body while helping India achieve its famous win in Brisbane. India’s resilience and fighting spirit were symbolised by his defiant 56-ball 211 in the last Test.
Pujara’s old-school style of Test match batting was well known throughout his career. He emphasized patience, concentration,, and his ability to tire out the opposition. In Indian cricket, his retirement marks the end of an era for traditional test match batting.
