Former England National Cricket Team captain Nasser Hussain has lavished high praise on the former India National Cricket Team batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who recently announced his retirement.
Nasser Hussain said that Cheteshwar Pujara was a proper old-school No. 3 batsman, who did a great job for the India National Cricket Team over the years and protected the middle-order batters like Virat Kohli.
Cheteshwar Pujara finished his Test career with 7,195 runs
On Sunday, August 24, India Test batting great Cheteshwar Pujara announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, and after that, he revealed that he thought about playing the upcoming Ranji Trophy season, but felt it was the right time to make way for younger players in the Saurashtra squad.
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Pujara made his Test debut for the India National Cricket Team at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 9, 2010, against the Australia National Cricket Team.
From thereon, he played a total of 103 Test matches for the country and scored 7195 runs in his legendary career at an average of 43.60, with 19 centuries and 35 fifties.
The last of the Test purists, Pujara, played most of his matches – 94 – at No.3 spot and emerged as the ideal successor of the legendary Rahul Dravid.
His last appearance for Team India came in the ICC World Test Championship 2023 Final, and after that, he didn’t give up and went on a grind, scoring consistently for Saurashtra and for Sussex, but he wasn’t recalled.
Shubman Gill doesn’t want to do it for India – Nasser Hussain
Speaking on the Sky Sports YouTube channel, Nasser Hussain praised Cheteshwar Pujara for doing the tough job for India and highlighted how the new-age Shubman Gill and Joe Root are reluctant to bat at No. 3 in Tests. He said:
“A real old-school No. 3. And he had to take over from one of the all-time great No. 3s in Rahul Dravid. It’s something that’s a little bit lacking in international cricket – No. 3s. Even in the England side, Joe Root doesn’t want to do it. Shubman Gill doesn’t want to do it for India since he has got the captaincy. He wants to bat at 4.”
“In our era, your No. 3 was your best player, whether it be Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting or Rahul Dravid. Not an easy position to do but Pujara did it as well as anyone.”
He protected the middle order, with the likes of Kohli in there – Nasser Hussain
In his tribute post for Cheteshwar Pujara, the legendary Virat Kohli had mentioned that he made his job easier at No.4. Making a statement along similar lines, Nasser Hussain said that Cheteshwar Pujara protected the likes of Kohli against the new ball. He said:
“Another one of the old school batters is gone. A bat for your life and over my dead body sort of batter that played the ball late and produced some great innings, especially in Australia. He was loved by Indian fans for playing like that. And he protected the middle order, with the likes of Kohli in there, from the new ball. Working with him, he’s exactly like how he was when he batted. Very calm, quietly spoken and talks a lot of sense.”
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