Cheteshwar Pujara Thought Of Playing Ranji Trophy, Later Decided To Retire Due To This Reason

A true stalwart of red-ball cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara brought an end to his esteemed international career on Sunday as he quit all three formats. Pujara, who bailed the Indian team out of many tricky situations, contemplated the decision to retire for about a week. The batter revealed that he initially was thinking of continuing to play the Ranji Trophy for one more season before deciding to prepone his retirement announcement. On second thought, Pujara felt that it was better if he didn't play the Ranji Trophy, allowing more opportunities for younger players.

"This was my personal call and I decided that this is the right time, especially when young players should get opportunities in domestic cricket," Pujara told SportsTak after the announcement. "Earlier, I thought maybe I would play this Ranji season, but then I felt that if young players get the opportunity, they will be ready sooner. So this was my personal call. About the past few years when I wasn't part of the Indian team, I don't want to speak much," he added.

Pujara featured for India in 103 Tests, scoring over 7000 runs while completing 19 centuries and 35 fifties. In the ODI spectrum, Pujara only featured in 5 matches, but never got to make his T20I debut for the country.

"For about a week, I thought a little that this was the right time. So today, when I took this decision, it was quite a proud moment for me and for my whole family. On this day, I want to thank all my teammates, my coaches, and all the support staff I worked with, because this is a proud moment for me. Representing the Indian team, from childhood, when I was small, it was always a dream to play for India. When that dream got completed and for so many years this journey went on, we created so many memories, so there are many proud moments in my career till now," he said on the decision.

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