The current reports have made a surprise breakthrough that the head coach of India, Gautam Gambhir, wanted to include the veteran batter of the side, Cheteshwar Pujara, during the five-match series of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. The tourists are currently chasing to retain the title after their defeats in the pink-ball day-night affair at the Adelaide Oval and the fourth Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Pujara was a vital member of India in them winning the two back-to-back series down under, as the right-handed batter smashed 993 Test runs in 21 innings at an average of 47.28 in Australia at a strike rate of 37.37 with the help of three centuries and five half-centuries at the best score of 193 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The last run of the Saurashtra batter’s 7195 in 176 innings at an average of 43.60 came during the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 against the same opposition at the Kennington Oval in London.
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The Indian Express reported that after the defeat in Melbourne, where India failed to play out 92 overs to ensure a draw, having been three down in the third session of the fifth and final, there was a bit of chaos in the side with Gambhir having had enough of the subpar performances which delivered a brutal assessment of the players.
Gautam Gambhir wanted Cheteshwar Pujara for India in BGT 2024-25
The two veteran players of the side, captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have struggled a lot in the ongoing series. The former has collected just 31 runs in six innings at an average of 6.20, as he had already batted at the top and middle order of the line-up. Kohli, on the other end, has collected 167 runs in seven innings at an average of 27.83.
KL Rahul has been decent with the bat for his 259 runs in eight innings at an average of 37, shouldering on two half-centuries. Yashasvi Jaiswal is the only batter among the top six to be consistent with the bat for his 359 runs in eight innings at 51.28.
Pujara was one the pillars for India to earn the 2018-19 series victory down under when he faced 1258 balls for his 521 runs and was also a backbone of the batting line-up for his 271 runs in 928 balls, helping them to win the series in 2020-21.
The lanky pace bowler of Australia, Josh Hazlewood, has praised the gritty performance of the batter from the previous two trips and was both surprised and glad that the Saurashtra batter wasn’t playing in the ongoing 2024/25 series.
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“I am happy that Cheteshwar Pujara is not here. He is someone who bats time and spends a lot of time at the crease and makes you earn his wicket every time. Has done well in Australia on previous tours. I mean there are always first-class young players coming into the team.” The New South Wales fast bowler addressed.
The veteran batter is currently working with the Hindi feed of Star Sports. In October, he slammed his 25th Ranji Trophy ton and converted it into the 18th double century of the first-class format during the second round for the side against Chhattisgarh in Rajkot. The batter of India is now only behind the former players Don Bradman (37), Wally Hammond (36), and Pasty Hendren (22) in the illustrious list.