“I’m ready to grab it with both hands” – Discarded India Test star hungry to make comeback in England series

Out-of-favor Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara has expressed his eagerness to make a strong comeback if given the opportunity in the five-match Test series against England, scheduled from June to August this year. The 37-year-old's last appearance in the format was in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, where India suffered a 209-run defeat.

Team India has faced disappointing results in recent Test series. They first endured a 3-0 whitewash at home against New Zealand, followed by a 3-1 loss to Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under. Additionally, for the first time, they failed to qualify for the WTC final.

In the new cycle (2025-27), India will begin their campaign with a five-match away series against England. Ahead of that, on Thursday, March 6, during the RevSportz Trailblazers 3.0 Conclave, Pujara expressed his eagerness to make a strong comeback if given the opportunity. He said:

“I’m playing domestic cricket. If given a chance, I’m ready to grab it with both hands. The hunger is even more. When you are older, you need to work even harder.”

Meanwhile, reflecting on India's chances of winning the series, he emphasized that the bowling has been solid, and the batters just need to score runs.

“We have the bowling. We need to put runs on the board. And we have the players to do that. We have to respect the bowling and the conditions. I won’t say that we don’t have a chance,” he added.

The right-handed batter's last appearance was in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, where he scored 402 runs in seven matches at an average of 40.20, including one century and one half-century.

---

Cheteshwar Pujara has 19 Test centuries to his name for India

Cheteshwar Pujara made his Test debut for India against Australia in 2010 and has since played in 103 matches. The Saurashtra cricketer has scored 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60, including 35 fifties and 19 centuries.

In England, he has featured in 16 Test matches, amassing 870 runs at a modest average of 29, with five fifties and one century.