Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's Retirements Pushed Cheteshwar Pujara To Quit Cricket? Star Says: "Wasn't 100..."

Cheteshwar Pujara, a veteran of many battles in India's Test whites, announced his retirement last week. Though Cheteshwar Pujara last played for India in 2023, he remained an active cricketer featuring for Saurashtra in Ranji Trophy and county cricket. He was planning to play another domestic season when he was commentating on the game in England but he came back to Rajkot and took the call to move on. "Slowly it is sinking in. But at the same time, I'm really overwhelmed with all the love and support provided by all the family members, friends and my teammates, the coaches I've worked with, the cricket fans," he said.

Was it the retirements of fellow seniors like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma that prompted Pujara to say goodbye to the game? "When I was in the UK, I was actually looking forward to the season. But once I came back home, I was settling in. And when I was about to start my preparation for the Ranji Trophy, I wanted to speak to my family, to my friends, some of my colleagues. What are their thoughts on me playing this season," Pujara told news agency PTI.

"Because I knew that if I played another season, I would be holding a spot in the team and I didn't want to do that. And I wasn't 100 per cent sure that I wanted to carry on playing the entire season.

"So I thought that it was the best time for me to move on and provide an opportunity to the younger player who can be part of the Saurashtra team."

Pujara, who faced 16217 balls in his Test career, allowed the likes of Kohli to play their natural game as he withstood the pressure from the other end.

The likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were around when Pujara made his Test debut. The priceless conversations with them early in his career helped him excel in overseas conditions.

"...when you have so many senior players within the dressing room, you get to interact with the...Also, I had asked them questions about how to be successful in overseas conditions.

"I have spoken to each and every one of them individually and I have got great feedback, great inputs about how they prepared, what they saw in my game and what I had to work on going forward."

With PTI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Cheteshwar Pujara Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Cricket