Team India’s senior Test batter Cheteshwar Pujara will be in Australia during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Having been dropped from the Test team for a while, Pujara will appear in a different role this time. Instead of wielding the bat on the field, he will be seen with a microphone in the commentary box.
Pujara ranks fourth on the list of Indian batters with the most runs in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He played a crucial role in India’s consecutive series victories in Australia during the 2018-19 and 2020-21 tours. The 36-year-old Pujara has played 103 Test matches for India, scoring a total of 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60. Since the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 final, Pujara has not played any Test matches for India.
Looking at Pujara’s statistics in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he has scored 2,033 runs at an average of 50.82 across 43 innings in 24 matches from 2010 to 2023. Only four Indian batters have crossed the 2,000-run mark in this trophy, and Pujara shares this elite list with Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Rahul Dravid. Currently, Shubman Gill has been batting at No. 3 in Test cricket in place of Pujara.
This time, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will feature five Test matches instead of the usual four. Shubman Gill, however, was injured during the warm-up match and will miss the first Test, which could make Pujara’s absence at No. 3 felt by Team India. The first Test is set to be played at Perth Stadium from November 22. In addition to Gill, captain Rohit Sharma will also be unavailable for the first match. Pujara is set to do Hindi commentary during this series. Dinesh Karthik made a return to international cricket after doing commentary, so it remains to be seen if Cheteshwar Pujara will have a similar comeback.