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Cheteshwar Pujara belongs from an old school and is regarded as one of the finest Test cricketers of this generation. It was in the early 2000s when Pujara was making heads turn with his daddy hundreds. Pujara had scored a triple century at the U-14 tournament and followed it up with a double ton against England U-19 in a four-day match. He made a reputation of himself for scoring big. It was after his knack of scoring big, the officials were forced to change the playing conditions in Rajkot. By a short span of time, Pujara had become a run machine in Ranji Trophy games. Pujara was tipped to be the next Rahul Dravid in Test cricket more due to the mental aspect of his game rather than his technique. After churning out triple centuries and double centuries for fun at the flat Rajkot wicket, the selectors couldn’t overlook him. In a generation where quick money at different franchise T20 leagues has become a trend, Pujara remains one of those very few players who take pride in playing Test cricket and doesn’t have any qualms about being a longer format specialist. Pujara made his Test debut in October 2010 against Australia at Bangalore, where he scored a quick-fire 72, before getting bowled to a Nathan Hauritz’s delivery. He had to wait for three more years to get his maiden ODI cap. Meanwhile, he represented Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in between 2010-14 seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was picked for the tour of South Africa for the 2010-11 tour but couldn’t manage to make an impact. Pujara was in ominous form during the home Test series against England which India eventually lost by a 1-2 margin. He smashed a sensational 206 against England and followed it up with 135 in the Mumbai Test on a track where the other batsmen including the great Sachin Tendulkar were failing miserably. He continued to be a consistent run-scorer in home Tests. He came strongly after the injury w
