The illustrious Test career of Cheteshwar Pujara, a pillar of Indian batting for more than ten years, came to an end on Sunday when he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
After playing his last of 103 Test matches in 2023, the 37-year-old made his decision public on social media.
Pujara thanked his well-wishers on social media on Tuesday for their messages.
“Truly grateful for all the love and wishes, Pujara posted on X.
“Hello, everyone. I would like to thank each and every one of you for your wishes and kind words. Since last couple of days, so many of you have reached out. It is very overwhelming for me. I tried replying to as many messages as possible, but if I missed on some, I would like to apologise for that. It has been an honour to represent the country at the highest level, and I would like to contribute to the Indian cricket in whatever manner I can, but I’m very grateful to all of you for all the love and support you have showered upon me. Thank you very much," Pujara said in a video message.
Given that two of the team's mainstays, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, had already retired from Test cricket prior to the England tour earlier this year, and that another longtime teammate, R Ashwin, had departed in the middle of the Australia tour in December, Pujara's declaration was not wholly surprising.
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Among India's all-time top scorers, Pujara comes in ninth place with 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60. He scored 21,301 runs in first-class cricket as well.
Pujara made the decision to go on even though it was expected that he would play for Saurashtra in another domestic season.
As a member of the broadcast team for the most recent India-England series in the UK, Pujara shifted to commentary during his time away from the Indian team. He seemed determined to play domestic cricket for another year as recently as last month, and he continued his fitness regimen even while providing commentary.
Between 2010 and 2023, Pujara amassed 19 hundreds and 35 half-centuries in his career.
His traditional approaches were very successful even if they weren't the most appealing. His greatest performances were during the back-to-back tours of Australia in 2018 and 2021, when he was instrumental in India's consecutive series wins in Australia. He was particularly good at wearing out bowlers and batting for extended periods of time.
With the zeal of a teenager, Pujara continued to score a lot of runs in domestic cricket when the squad moved on from him and Ajinkya Rahane in 2023.
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