While Cheteshwar Pujara scored 4, 12 not out and 9 in the three innings he batted on the ongoing England tour, Ajinkya Rahane managed just 5 and 1 in the two innings he played.
With Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane unbeaten at the end of the penultimate day of the WTC Final, will India pull off another stunning win?
Australia pace spearhead Pat Cummins describes Cheteshwar Pujara as a 'brick wall', whose wicket he targeted once captain Virat Kohli returned home after the first Test during the recent series against India.
A collective effort put India in a commanding position on Day 2 of the opening Test against England in Motera on Friday. Having declared their first innings on a mammoth 521 for eight, highlighted by a magnificent 206 not out by Cheteshwar Pujara, the home team reduced the visitors to 41 for three at stumps.
India will embark on a redemption tour to England just after the ongoing Indian Premier League and Cheteshwar Pujara, who is expected to be the team's batting mainstay, feels it will be a tough ask for the visitors' to switch to Test cricket mode from the Twenty20 format.
As his quest to find a spot in India's One-day side continues, Cheteshwar Pujara has also started bowling in order to fit the bill for ODI selection and said a good showing in IPL could see him on the plane to Australia and New Zealand for next year's World Cup.
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 fast bowler Bumrah has achieved a career-high ranking of 33rd, after his three for 47 and three for 68 at Adelaide helped him to rise five places.
The right-handed Indian opening batsman also emerged the leading run-scorer in the 16-team event with 349 runs.
Virat Kohli remained on top while teammate Chesteshwar Pujara managed to hold on to his third position i
India's batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara sought to play mind games ahead of the second Test against South Africa, saying the visitors had more positives to take from the epic drawn first Test and would look to "build on the gains" from that match.
Cheteshwar Pujara will take it step by step to reclaim his lost berth in the Indian squad, focusing on helping Saurashtra qualify for the One-day Inter Zonals for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
With an average of 65.17, he is only second behind Don Bradman.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins believes that the 2018-19 Test series loss to India was more hurtful than the 2020-21 debacle under his captaincy as the home team was simply outplayed in that engagement.
'We still prepare the pitch the exact same way every time to try and get the same good carry, pace and bounce that the Gabba is known for.'
Still finding his feet in the Twenty20 format, Cheteshwar Pujara knows that he cannot be "flamboyant" like some of his Kings XI Punjab teammates in the IPL but the Indian says he is hoping carve a niche for himself by emulating South African legend Jacques Kallis.
West Zone breezed into the final of the Duleep Trophy on the basis of a huge 475-run first innings lead after their semi-final against North Zone ended in a tame draw in Rajkot on Friday. Resuming at the overnight score of 56 for 1, West Zone declared their second innings at 345 for 7, a few overs before the start of the mandatory overs.
Chesteshwar Pujara displayed his appetite for a big score with a superlative unbeaten 256 as India Blue piled up a mammoth 693 for six in their bid to outbat the Reds on the second day of the Duleep Trophy final.
The three-day practice game will give a chance for the players who are already in the West Indies to shift from limited overs to the five-day format.
Cheteshwar Pujara carved out one of his finest Test hundreds, a knock punctuated by a mix of trademark tenacity and grace, as India eked out a slender 27-run first innings lead against England on Day 2 of the fourth Test.
England off-spinner Graeme Swann reckons, if India's new No 3 batsman is the new 'Wall' then England captain Alastair Cook is the new Bradman.
India are yet to win a Test in Birmingham in nearly six decades -- boasting of a dismal record of seven losses and one draw in eight attempts.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara led India's determined response to England's mammoth first innings total of 537 as they struck dogged hundreds to guide the hosts to 319 for four on the third day of the first Test in Rajkot, on Friday.
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 thwarted Australia in a diligent partnership to push India to a position of strength and a 166-run lead at the close of day three of the first Test.
On Wednesday, July 13, Cheteshwar Pujara rolled over his arm and bowled some leg-spin for Sussex.
The SCG may be perfect for the under-performing trio -- Pujara, Dhawan and Ashwin -- to regain their touch.
Murali Vijay celebrated his return to the India side with a hundred, while Cheteshwar Pujara continued his golden run with another century as India dominated the second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur on Saturday.
He is being looked at as a specialist Test batsman, but young Cheteshwar Pujara feels that his sterling performances in the four-Test series against England has given him enough confidence to excel in the other two versions of the game -- ODIs and T20s.
Cheteshwar Pujara received a huge compliment from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who said the youngster is a complete Test batsman whose temperament is the hallmark of his batting.
Swann said he benefitted from legendary Shane Warne's advice on how to play on spin-friendly Indian wickets.
Cheteshwar Pujara on the art of batting at number three, his preparation for the new season and the fitness regimen that has helped him keep the good batting form going.
Rohit tested positive during a warm-up match in Leicester last week.
Cheteshwar Pujara held his position and remained the best-placed Indian batsman at the seventh spot, while R Ashwin was also steady at the same position in the bowlers' chart of the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Tuesday.
While the spinners stole the limelight in India's convincing victory in the first Test against South Africa in Mohali, one cannot forget the key contribution made by Cheteshwar Pujara with the bat, especially in the second innings when batting had become really difficult.
Following the debacle in the New Zealand ODI series, the selectors finally lost patience with the under-performing Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma and axed them from India's squad for the Asia Cup later this month. Cheteshwar Pujara, who played two ODIs in Zimbabwe in August, made a comeback to the ODI squad.
The right-hander feels that keeping India's relatively inexperienced pace attack, aside from Jasprit Bumrah, on the field for as long as possible could be the key for the hosts in the five-Test series beginning in Perth on Friday.
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.
Australia's David Warner's batting exploits in the third and final Test against South Africa earned him a career-best fifth in the latest ICC Rankings for Test batsmen, even as India's Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli dropped to No 8 and 10 respectively.
India captain Virat Kohli said he was not "cool as ice" after the Australian lower-order's spirited resistance delayed India's march to victory in the opening Test in Adelaide.
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