For the Indian captain and his team, the WTC final is like their Test debuts as young players trying to come up the ranks.
'Important things like concentration, having a balanced mind, staying calm at all times, all these important things he learnt from his mother.' Arvind Pujara, the master batsman's dad, has been much praised for instilling the right values in his only child, but he tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian that it was his late mother Reena who is majorly responsible for Cheteshwar's success.
Former captain and India A coach Rahul Dravid has defended out-of-form batsman Cheteswar Pujara, saying there was nothing wrong with his technique.
'He will be missed by all of us in Saurashtra.'
'Rahul needs to play county cricket, but will he skip the IPL?'
'I think if you asked us at the start of the day if we'd take losing the toss and India being 9 for 250 at stumps, I think we'd bite your arm off'
The 18-year-old right-hander was named in a 12-man squad on Wednesday for the first of the two-Test series and is expected to open alongside Lokesh Rahul.
The Indian team on Sunday began training for the decisive third and final Test against South Africa here, hoping to recover from the defeat in Johannesburg and claim its maiden series win in the Rainbow Nation.
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."
Natarajan was added to the Test squad for the remaining two Test matches against Australia on January 1.
Images from Day 2 of the third Test between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Wednesday.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Karun Nair created records albeit of different kinds.
Pujara's slowest Test half-century, a painstaking 50 off 176 balls handed Australia control of the match in which they now have overall lead of 197 runs.
Cheteshwar Pujara set a few records during his unbeaten ton.
Dravid insisted his team is not feeling any pressure going into the World Test Championship final against Australia.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 1 of the 1st Test.
India captain KL Rahul admitted that his team was made to really work hard by Bangladesh to register a comprehensive 188-run win in the first Test of the two-match series in Chattogram on Sunday.
The 6'7" seam-bowling all-rounder's inclusion in Australia's line-up was expected after his impressive hundred in the first warm-up game against India A.
Cheteshwar Pujara contributed an unbeaten 130 to India's 303 for four on the opening day of the fourth Test against Australia in Sydney on Thursday, keeping the tourists firmly on track for a historic breakthrough with his third century of the series.
It's been more than a decade since India lost a Test series at home - they had lost to England 1-2 in 2012.
Green was attended to by the medical team and was able to walk off the field.
Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer grabbed their chances with centuries, but seniors like Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma had a forgettable series.
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.
A fit again Wriddhiman Saha was named in the Rest of India squad that will take on first-time Ranji Trophy champions in the Irani Cup to be held in Mumbai from January 20-24.
Livingstone was picked by Punjab Kings for Rs 11.5 crore
According to PTI, the chairman of selectors, Chetan Sharma has asked the duo to regain form by playing Ranji Trophy.
According to Jaffer, Axar can leave his mark as English batsmen tend to struggle against left-arm spinners.
Cheteshwar Pujara struck a defiant century in an Adelaide Oval furnace to rescue India after Australia's pacemen threatened to dominate day one of the series-opening Test on Thursday.
England's highest successful run chase came in 2019 when they reached a 359-run target in an Ashes test against Australia on the back of Stokes's brilliant unbeaten century.
India's pace trio took less than three hours to rout the tourists after Mominul Haque's decision to bat backfired.
'This is the best Indian side I have been part of'
Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg feels young Prithvi Shaw is more suited for the number three spot in Test cricket and is the top candidate to step in place of Cheteshwar Pujara if India think of replacing the veteran India batsman in the five-Test series against England, starting next month.
'They came out with an attitude that they had nothing to lose.' 'That's what stands out about this team.'
Cheteshwar Pujara's reputation as a Test specialist had hampered his IPL prospects for last few years but India's No 3 is now ready to turn the corner for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021, having picked up cues from the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Former coach Ravi Shastri termed Ajinkya Rahane's Test comeback as a reward for his impressive domestic show.
India spinner Kuldeep Yadav was inundated with birthday greetings on Twitter.
Five Indians turned up for both the teams during the four-day practice match
Images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between Australia and India, at the Gabba, on Saturday.
Responding to India's 246 for eight declared after a day of multiple rain interruptions, Leicestershire were primed to take a sizable lead over the tourists when Pant was in his element.
Cheteshwar Pujara, who was among the top-order batsmen who failed to click in the five-Test series against England, has turned his attention to Derbyshire to find form.
