Cheteshwar Pujara, a successful Test player for India, has announced his retirement from all cricket. He wasn’t planning to but the Indian selectors left him with no choice.
They told him he wouldn’t be picked for the Test team anymore. With that door shut, the right-handed batter decided to not only quit international cricket but also domestic cricket. He wants to make room for younger players from Saurashtra to play for India. Saurashtra had hoped Pujara would play again after he said he would. But after being turned down by the national selectors for two years, it was too much.
The first sign of his decision came when Pujara didn’t want to play in the Duleep Trophy 2025 during India’s tour of England. Soon after, he hung his boots. Sources close to Pujara told Telecom Asia Sport he wasn’t thinking of retiring.
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Pujara isn’t the only experienced player who has been left out of the Indian team’s plans. Ajinkya Rahane, who often played alongside Pujara in India’s middle order, was also told quietly that he won’t be considered for Test selection again. Telecom Asia Sport heard that the Indian selectors even mentioned Pujara and Rahane in squad meetings as examples of players who were being sidelined because of their age.
Karsan Ghavri, a former Indian cricketer and coach of Saurashtra, slammed the BCCI and the selectors for not giving Pujara a farewell game. Ghavri said it was a tough decision for Pujara. He added that while it would have been difficult for him to come back to the team, he deserved a farewell. Ghavri believes that anyone who plays over 100 Tests should get a farewell.
Just a week after announcing his retirement, the 37-year-old has asked the BCCI to rethink the pitches they prepare for home Test matches. Pujara feels that India’s focus on pitches that help spin bowlers has sometimes backfired. He pointed out the 0-3 loss at home against New Zealand last year as an example. That defeat hurt India’s reputation at home and was a reason why India didn’t make it to the third World Test Championship final in a row.
The former Indian batter feels that the BCCI should look at how other Test-playing nations prepare their pitches. He wants Indian pitches to be fair for both batsmen and bowlers. Pujara told NDTV that things have changed. He said most teams are playing on better pitches and he hopes India does the same. Not that the ball shouldn’t spin but matches shouldn’t finish in three or three and a half days. Ideally he wants games to go into fourth or fifth day with good pitches.
