Team India’s legendry batter and format Chennai Super Kings’ player Cheteshwar Pujara has announced his retirement from all formats of the game.
The news came early on Sunday, when the player took to social media to share a heartfelt note in which he announced his retirement from the game as well.
Pujara was a part of the Indian test setup for over a decade, in which he played 103 games for his side, scoring 7195 runs in them at an average of 43.61. In his illustrious career, he also scored 35 fifties and 19 hundreds.
His highest score of 206* came against England in a home test at Ahmedabad. It was following this knock that he got the title of the next wall of India, a title which was previously credited to Rahul Dravid.
| Format | Matches | Innings | Runs | Highest | Average | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 103 | 176 | 7,195 | 206 | 43.61 | 19 | 35 |
| ODI | 5 | 5 | 51 | 27 | 10.2 | 0 | 0 |
Pujara: defiance personified
However, when we think of Pujara, we just don’t talk about runs. We talk about the serenity with which he operated in the middle. It didn’t matter if he walked in when his team was struggling with quick wickets or after a long partnership. He worked the game on his own pace, which made him a difficult batter to bowl at.
This side of his batting characteristic is highlighted by a stat that it took bowlers 99.4 balls on average to dismiss him in the longest format of the game.
Many of today’s fans remember him from his heroics down under in 2021. But many of us forget that he was the hero even in 2018. One of his famous knocks came in Adelaide, when he walked in to bat and India were already 86/5.
Pujara toiled hard for the next 376 minutes (6+ hours) for his 123 runs, for which he took 246 deliveries. Not only did his innings help his team set a total of 250 runs in the first inning, but also set up a victory which turned out to be crucial in the long run, to help them script history by winning their first ever series win on Australian soil.
Pujara the IPL winner
| Mat | No | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 3 | 390 | 51* | 20.53 | 391 | 99.74 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 4 |
It will come as a surprise to many, but Pujara has an IPL trophy to his name as well. He was a part of the CSK 2021 team that went on to lift their fourth IPL trophy. Although he didn’t get a chance to feature in that tournament, he was an integral part of the leadership role.
Overall, the Indian stalwart has featured in the IPL with three other teams. He made his IPL debut with KKR in 2009 and then went on to represent RCB between 2011 and 2013. Then he was picked by Punjab in 2014, before CSK gave him another chance in 2021.
All in all, Pujara has featured in 30 IPL games in which he scored 390 runs at an average of 20, with 51 being his highest score. In fact, he also smashed 50 fours and 4 sixes in the course of his IPL career.
