Opener K L Rahul missed out on a hundred while captain Cheteshwar Pujara struck a solid fifty to steer India 'A' to 221 for six on a rain-affected first day of the first 'unofficial' Test against Australia 'A', in Chennai, on Wednesday.
Ravi Shastri didn't expect the orthodox Cheteshwar Pujara to try out an uncharacteristic ramp shot against Pat Cummins.
Pujara overcame ball sighting problems and hit a crisp 166 before state-mate Sheldon Jackson sent the India Green bowlers on a leather-hunt with Blue team piling up a mammoth 707 in a virtual 'semi-final' of the Duleep Trophy, in Greater Noida on Monday.
Skipper Cheteshwar Pujara hit a scintillating 140 as India 'A' posted 281 for three against South Africa 'A' at stumps on the opening day of the first unofficial Test in Rustenberg.
Cheteshwar Pujara is gearing up for new challenge. The 25-year-old is a huge success on the Indian pitches and therefore this Saurashtra lad is looking ahead to the senior team's possible tour of South Africa followed by the confirmed visit to New Zealand.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir, BCCI president Roger Binny and all-rounder Hardik Pandya led the long list of joyous members of the cricketing fraternity in lauding Jay Shah, who was on Tuesday elected unopposed as the ICC Chairman.
Relieved after notching up his first hundred in close to two years, Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara thanked A team coach Rahul Dravid for reassuring him that there was "nothing wrong" with his technique during the prolonged lean patch.
India's middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin have achieved their career-best rankings in batting and bowling, respectively in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings released on Tuesday.
Images from Day One of the opening Test between India and New Zealand at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Uppal on Thursday.
Swann said he benefitted from legendary Shane Warne's advice on how to play on spin-friendly Indian wickets.
Out-of-favour following a string of poor scores, top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is keen to stage a comeback into the Indian Test squad. He says it's just a matter of time before he regains his place in the playing eleven.
Cheteshwar Pujara scored a scintillating century to place Saurashtra in a dominating position on the third day against Rajasthan
Round-up of the matches across various venues in the Ranji Trophy
Those three wickets for six runs, in a manic final 15 minutes of the day's play, undid all the good work that had gone before, asserts Prem Panicker.
Rahul Dravid's tenure as India Head Coach, which ended gloriously with the T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados on Saturday, will remain a case study on how to be stately and understated at the same time in modern-day cricket coaching.
India's star cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara, who is also Election Commission's Brand Ambassador in Gujarat, specially flew down from Abu Dhabi, where he has been part of the Kings XI Punjab in the ongoing Indian Premier League, to cast his vote in Rajkot on Wednesday.
While Cheteshwar Pujara's place in the Test side is not under any doubt, there are question marks creeping over whether he is the right batsman for the No 3 slot, especially overseas.
The 24-year-old Rajkot-born batsman is only the sixth Indian to hit a double century against England.
Being dubbed as a 'Test specialist' at times can be a bane rather than a boon and no one understands it better than Cheteshwar Pujara, who feels that the perception of people would change soon.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli's exploits with the bat in the two-Test series sweep of New Zealand will encourage India to believe they have pinpointed the right men to help carry the team through a tricky transitional period.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid can feel the pain Cheteshwar Pujara is going through. The batting icon also had a tough time proving he was good enough for One-Day Internationals after being categorised as a Test specialist in the early part of his career.
'If we keep bowling like this, we will win as many as Tests as possible.'
Former captain Rahul Dravid believes a settled middle order can ensure Indian Test team's success abroad.
Cheteshwar Pujara's presence did not help Saurashtra as a gritty Tripura humbled the defending champions
Who do you feel is India's best bat for the No. 3 slot in the second Test against Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday, August 20.
India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara jumped a couple of rungs to second, while skipper Virat Kohli held on to the fifth spot in the latest ICC rankings for Test batsmen.
The Indian batsmen have been outwitted by Australian spinners in the ongoing Test series but Cheteshwar Pujara insists that there is "nothing wrong" with their batting line-up.
India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara is a satisfied man after his team won the tri-series beating Australia A in the final but had a word of caution for the senior team stating that Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co might not get as flat tracks that they got during this series.
India's Cheteshwar Pujara slipped a rung to seventh in the batting list but R Ashwin remained steady at fifth in the bowling chart of the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Thursday.
India captain Rohit Sharma including mainstays Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have placed in the highest category of BCCI central contracts.
Cheteshwar Pujara's debut for Derbyshire County Cricket Club, for which he has recently signed a contract to play in the remainder of the English County Championship, has been delayed simply because he has not yet been granted a British work visa. Consequently, he hasn't reached England and missed Derbyshire's crucial ongoing Division II match against Worcestershire at Derby in LV County Championship.
Cricket fraternity hails Gautam Gambhir appointment
Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest-placed Indian batsman, climbing a rung to the sixth position, while Pragyan Ojha broke into the top-10 among bowlers after gaining one spot to be 10th in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Monday.
Cheteshwar Pujara missed out on a second successive double hundred but his 182 went a long way in Saurashtra piling up a mammoth 570 in their first innings against Gujarat on the second day of the Ranji Trophy.
Out-of-favour opener Gautam Gambhir cracked his first century in more than two years as India 'A' came up with a solid batting display to take firm control of the third unofficial Test against the West Indies 'A' in Hubli.
Considered a Test batsman of impeccable technique, Cheteshwar Pujara says he has made some adjustments in his game to adapt to the fast-paced Twenty20 format in the ongoing Pepsi IPL where he shares the dressing room with destructive batsmen like Chris Gayle.
Cheteshwar Pujara, who was among the top-order batsmen who failed to click in the five-Test series against England that India lost 1-3, has sought permission to play in the remainder of the English county season and will be allowed to do so by the Board.
It was an engrossing day of cricket with both India and Australia trying to seize control in front of a big Sunday crowd at the M Chinaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and a lot of words were exchanged in the first session between India's fielders and Australia's batsmen.
Veteran opener Virender Sehwag was dropped from the Indian squad for the first three One-Day Internationals against England, starting in Rajkot on January 11.
Former captain and India A coach Rahul Dravid has defended out-of-form batsman Cheteswar Pujara, saying there was nothing wrong with his technique.
