"If He's Saying...": Cheteshwar Pujara Reacts After Virat Kohli's 'Made Life Easier' Compliment

In a season of retirements that has seen Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin saying goodbye to various forms of the game, Cheteshwar Pujara is the latest addition. Pujara played 103 Tests and scored 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60. He slammed 19 centuries along with 35 half-centuries. Pujara's retirement evoked an outpouring of admiration from the cricketing fraternity, with former teammates and coaches saluting his grit, determination, and selflessness that defined his Test career. The Saurashtra batter was a vital cog in Virat Kohli's Test side that secured a historic win in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2018-19. During that tour of Australia, Pujara scored 521 runs in seven innings as India won the series 2-1.

In the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under, Pujara scored 271 runs from four matches at an average of 33.87, with three fifties and a best score of 77.

Batting maestro Virat Kohli on Tuesday thanked his longtime India teammate Cheteshwar Pujara for making his job "easier" in the Test batting line-up, with the two forming a robust middle-order pair for nearly a decade. Pujara, 37, called time on his illustrious career on Sunday, having started his journey way back in 2010 against Australia at Bengaluru.

"Thank you for making my job easier at (number) 4, Pujji. You've had an amazing career. Congratulations, and wish you the best for what's ahead. God bless @cheteshwarpujara," Kohli, who announced his Test retirement this year in May, wrote on his Instagram story.

Kohli and Pujara added 3,513 runs in 83 Test innings with seven century stands and 18 half-century partnerships, while averaging 43.37.

On Kohli saying that he made life easier for him at number four, Pujara said: "It's a nice compliment from Virat. He's a great player. And if he's saying that I've made his life easier, I'm really proud because if you're a top-order batsman, your job is to ensure that the batters who bat at numbers 4, 5, 6, you make their life easier." India has not found a solid number three since Pujara left the scene. Does he see anyone in the current team performing that tough role in the long run? "Well, it's very hard to say at this stage. But the Indian team has a lot of young, talented players. Someone like Sai Sudharsan has started this journey well. We saw some potential in his batting.

"At the same time, Karun Nair also scored a 50, though he was batting at number 5. Both Sai and Karun have shown a lot of potential going forward."

In first-class cricket, he has played 278 matches, scoring 21,301 runs, with 352 being his highest. Pujara averaged 51.82 in first-class cricket, notching up 66 centuries and 81 half-centuries.

Pujara last played for India during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Oval, London, in 2023.

Topics mentioned in this article

Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Ravichandran Ashwin Cheteshwar Pujara India Cricket Team Cricket