After playing 103 Test matches for India between 2010 and 2023, Cheteshwar Pujara announced his retirement from Test cricket on Saturday, 24 Aug. The 37-year-old right-handed batter from Rajkot confirmed his exit from Indian cricket through a post on X on Saturday morning. With 7,195 runs in 15 years of Test cricket, Pujara spoke to the press in Rajkot and said he has no regrets and shared details about his future plans.
“I have no regrets at all. I feel very lucky to have played for the Indian team for so long. Many players don’t get this chance, so I am very grateful to my family and everyone who backed me,” Pujara said.
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Cheteshwar Pujara recently shared that he thought about playing in the 2025 Ranji Trophy season. This was before he told everyone on Sunday, August 24th, that he was retiring. He chose not to play so that young players from Saurashtra could have a chance to play.
In his retirement announcement, Pujara mentioned that ‘all good things must end.’ He told SportsTak that deciding to retire was something he personally wanted to do and that it felt like the correct time, especially so young cricketers could get opportunities to grow in domestic cricket.
He explained that he had considered playing in the upcoming Ranji season initially. but then he felt young players should get the opportunity, so they can get ready sooner. He made it clear that this choice was his own. Pujara also touched on his time away from the Indian team in recent years, but he didn’t want to go into too much detail about it.
Pujara said that he wasn’t thinking about retiring until recently. In interviews, he had said he wanted to keep trying to get back on the Indian team after 2023. However, things felt different this week.
He said that he had been thinking about it for about a week and felt like the time was right. Announcing his decision made him and his family feel satisfied. He thanked all his teammates, coaches, and support staff because they were a part of this memory for him. Playing for India had been a dream of his since he was a kid. He feels satisfied that this dream came true, and he played for India for so many years, creating many memories. He remarked that there are many moments of pride in his career.
Working as a broadcaster
Pujara is retiring from all forms of Indian cricket. He has already started working as a broadcaster, he made his commentary debut during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. He was also an expert and commentator during the recent India-England Test series.
Pujara said he may be retiring from playing but he will still be involved with the game.
“I’m happy to be finishing this part of my life but I will still be involved in the game. I want to be a commentator and I’ve already started doing media work. I won’t be playing anymore but I’ll be watching the Indian team and giving my thoughts. That pride will always be there,” he added.
Greatest Moment
In his long Test career Pujara was part of many Indian wins in matches and series. The former No. 3 batter for the Indian Test team feels that India’s first Test series win in Australia in 2018-19 was the greatest moment of his career.
“There have been so many great moments on the field but if I had to choose one it would be the Test series win in Australia in 2018. It was a wonderful achievement for my career and a special memory for the Indian team as a whole,” he said.
It was one of the best series I have played in.
Thought of playing Ranji trophy
Cheteshwar Pujara recently said he thought of playing in the 2025 Ranji Trophy. This was before he told everyone on Sunday, August 24th that he was retiring. He decided not to play so that young players from Saurashtra could play.
In his retirement announcement, Pujara said ‘all good things must end’. He told SportsTak that he wanted to retire personally and it felt like the right time, especially so young cricketers could get opportunities in domestic cricket.
Young players should get chance
He said he had thought of playing in the upcoming Ranji season initially but then he felt young players should get the opportunity so they can get ready sooner. He made it clear that this was his decision. Pujara also didn’t want to go into too much detail about his time away from the Indian team in recent years.
Pujara said he wasn’t thinking of retiring until recently. In interviews he had said he wanted to try and get back in the Indian team after 2023. But things felt different this week.
He said he had been thinking about it for about a week and felt like it was the right time. Announcing his decision made him and his family feel happy. He thanked all his teammates, coaches and support staff because they were part of this journey for him. Playing for India was his dream since he was a kid. He feels happy that this dream came true and he played for India for so many years and created many memories. He said there are many moments of pride in his career.
