'...it's been Shubman Gill, who's been moving from the opener's slot, and he himself wanted to bat at No. 3.'
Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was on Friday named the captain of the India 'A' team that will tour the West Indies in June for three four-day matches, three One-dayers and two Twenty20s.
Talented middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Monday said that he would grab the opportunity with both hands if he gets a chance to play against England in the One-Day International series starting in Rajkot on January 11.
'Rising to the occasion once again and playing a well-balanced knock!'
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.
It is now-or-never for the now senior-most superstar batter to produce an all-timer series that justifies his talent.
Gill, Rahul, Pant and the irrepressible Yashasvi Jaiswal will now have a chance to script the next glorious chapter in Indian cricket.
Cheteshwar Pujara became the first Indian batsman to post a double hundred in Tests at Hyderabad. He enjoys an impressive record at the venue, averaging 181.50, his runs' tally being 363 in two innings.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara batted with restraint in the first session. They also ensured that they kept their wickets in tact. This allowed them to get set at the crease and then go after the Aussie bowling and accelerate the innings. This is where India got it right on Day 2.
Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara slammed his second hundred of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, guiding Saurashtra to a comfortable 242 for four against Rajasthan on the opening day of their Group A match, in Jaipur on Friday.
Pujara termed Melbourne hundred as an 'important knock' while rating the Adelaide ton as a 'special knock' since it came in a winning cause.
Rajput said that India will miss pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at home, if he is ruled out of the event through injury.
NADA DG added that "BCCI's explanation will be discussed as to whether it will be counted as one of three filing failures or not. It will be decided on the explanation given and how they (BCCI) proceed from here."
For someone who smashed 1000 first-class runs in a month's domestic cricket in the 2017-18 season, it shouldn't come as a surprise that a heavy duty scorer like Mayank Agarwal knows a thing or two about the art of conversion, believes Cheteshwar Pujara.
Images from Day 3 of the third Test between India and Australia in Ranchi on Saturday.
Virat Kohli's last Test century was against Bangladesh in November 2019. Will century 28 come at Chattogram?
Pujara stood tall in a defiant 47 off 102 balls even as Sri Lanka pacers made full use of the overcast conditions to run through the Indian batting line-up.
Images from Day One of the opening Test between India and New Zealand at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Uppal on Thursday.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja and K S Bharat enjoyed their outing.
Images of the third Test between India and Sri Lanka being played in Colombo
Left-arm India seamer Jaydev Unadkat will join his Saurashtra teammate Cheteshwar Pujara at Sussex for three games in the County Championship in September.
Cheteshwar Pujara scored a scintillating century to place Saurashtra in a dominating position on the third day against Rajasthan
Cheteshwar Pujara has set an example for others with his first-innings century
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.
Pujara, on his part, thanked all the front-line warriors including doctors, para medical staff, and police, who are doing selfless service at this critical juncture.
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.
Controversial keeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha, who has been dropped from the Test team, will still earn Rs 1 crore in annual income after being demoted from group B to C.
The 24-year-old Rajkot-born batsman is only the sixth Indian to hit a double century against England.
Australia's in-depth planning to subdue Cheteshwar Pujara worked out well in the opening Test but spinner Nathan Lyon says it would be a massive challenge to keep the world-class batsman quiet through the remainder of the 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.
Cheteshwar Pujara said his side's first innings 187 was "like scoring 300 on any normal pitch" and puts them on top after the opening day of the third and final Test against South Africa on Wednesday.
Cheteshwar Pujara has never been known for sledging opposition batsmen but he is not averse to the idea if it helps the bowler.
Brushing aside the criticism for not scoring quickly enough, Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara said positive intent and not strike rate is what all that matters in Test cricket.
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 struck an unbeaten century to give India a slender first innings lead on Day 2 of the fourth Test against England.
Images from Day 1 of the second Test between India and New Zealand in Kolkata, on Friday.
After helping Saurashtra win their maiden Ranji Trophy title last month, little did he know that he would be spending all his time at home. Pujara is enjoying the 'forced' break and most of his time goes into entertaining his two-year-old daughter.
Pujara has so far scored 521 runs in seven innings with three hundreds at an impressive average of 74.42.
India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara says they are confident of claiming a historic first Test series win in South Africa, led by their potent fast bowling attack on the lively Highveld wickets where the first two of three Tests will be played.
Pujara has been criticised for his ultra-defensive approach in the series so far and instead of propping up his team's response to Australia's first innings total
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