The beginning of the year was very bad for Pujara and he was dropped from Team India after the South Africa series.
Image Credit source: AFP
2022 may not have been good for the Indian cricket team, but for some players of Team India, this year proved to be better personally. Test team’s senior batsman Cheteshwar Pujara He is one of those players for whom this year proved to be good. Especially after the way he started, Pujara came back strongly and proved his worth again until he became the star of Team India in the Test series win in Bangladesh.
In the Dhaka Test on Sunday, 25 December, India defeated Bangladesh by 3 wickets in a thrilling match and won the series 2-0. Pujara scored 222 runs in 4 innings of the series and for this he was adjudged Player of the Series. Pujara especially showed his mettle in the Chattogram test. He scored 90 runs in the first innings of this match and scored 102 runs in the second to end the century drought that had been going on for almost 4 years.
Pujara told how he got success
Talking about his performance after the Dhaka Test, Pujara said that he worked a lot on his game. Also gave credit to the time spent in first class cricket. Pujara said,
It was a tough series. I think I have found my rhythm. I played a lot of first class matches and worked on my game. If you look at the difference between two Test series, then first class matches help you to keep your rhythm. Every match of the World Test Championship is important and you need to be in your best form.
bad start to the year
Now it is important to know that how did Pujara make a comeback? This comeback was not easy for the 33-year-old star batsman. His performance in the Test series on South Africa tour earlier this year was not good and he was dropped for the Test series against Sri Lanka in February. Ajinkya Rahane was also dropped along with Pujara. It was assumed that now both of them will not return. Both had played against Ranji Trophy during that time.
Explosion in the county and a great comeback
Pujara then moved to England, where he signed with Sussex Cricket Club and played in the Second Division matches of the County Championship. During this, Pujara scored 1094 runs in 8 matches at an astonishing average of 109, which included a total of 5 centuries including 3 double centuries.
Due to this strong performance, Pujara made a comeback in the Edgbaston Test against England in July. Here he scored 66 runs in the second innings.
From here, Pujara had decided that he would continue to be a part of Team India for the next few series. This proved to be true and he was not only included in the team for the Bangladesh tour, but was also made the vice-captain for this series. Now by winning the Player of the Series, Pujara again ensured that he would continue to be a part of Team India.
