Cheteshwar Pujara Confirms Nottinghamshire Return 1

After a successful series in Sri Lanka, India’s batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara will ply his trade for Nottinghamshire for the final four County Championship games of the 2017 season, as the county outfit looks to seal their immediate return to the top flight following last season’s relegation.

Pujara will be available for the home and away fixtures against Northamptonshire, as well as the matches against Worcestershire and Sussex, the club confirmed on Wednesday (August 23).

After a mammoth 2016-17 home season where Pujara was India’s highest run-scorer with 1316 runs, the right-handed batsman signed for Nottinghamshire and made an immediate impact. He scored 223 runs for the county outfit in four matches including a match-winning hundred against Gloucestershire.

He continued his form in the recently-concluded three Test series against Sri Lanka too, slamming 309 runs at an average of over 77 with the help of two centuries.

Expressing his delight over having Pujara back for the important games, Nottinghamshire coach Peter Moores said:

“The great thing is that he has already been in the squad this season and he fitted in so well both on and off the field.”

“He is a fantastic player, and since he has been away, he has had a great time of it in the Test matches for India. So we are getting a guy who is coming back in form, and for the team spirit, Pudji coming back in is a huge boost for everybody.

“We have got two really big home games against Northants and Worcester because it is a chance for us to put pressure on two sides that are up there with us,” Moores added. “Runs on the board at Trent Bridge is always a big influence and having a player of Test-match quality in Pudji is a real bonus.”