Cheteshwar Pujara bats at nets just metres away from Rajkot stadium as India batters struggle; WATCH

While the Rohit Sharma-led Team India are taking on England in the third Test of the five-match series in Rajkot, veteran top-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara was toiling hard at nets of the Niranjan Shah Stadium on Thursday, just a few metres away from the third Test. Pujara was batting in the nets ahead of Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy game against Manipur that starts from Friday, and according to News18 CricketNext, a considerable amount of fans came to see him bat during the lunch break. Pujara has been making a case for his comeback to the Indian team recently. Pujara, who last played for India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia last June, recently scored a century for Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan.

At the Niranjan Shah Stadium, Cheteshwar Pujara is sweating it out with the Saurashtra team ahead of their Ranji Trophy match. Handful of spectators have come down in the Lunch break to see him bat :) pic.twitter.com/tgD3hhXweH

— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) February 15, 2024

Follow LIVE: India vs England 3rd Test However, since Pujara’s omission from the India Test team, the team management have shifted preference towards youngsters, with Shubman Gill the latest batter to take over the No 3 slot. With Virat Kohli remaining absent for the rest of the Test series against England due to personal reasons, the task has been cut out for Gill to find the big runs at No 3. However, Gill was dismissed for a nine-ball duck on Thursday as India suffered an early top-order collapse before Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja rescued the hosts with a century-run stand. It is, however, to be noted that Gill did score a century in the second Test in Visakhapatnam. Despite the snub, Pujara is not giving up his aspirations of a Team India comeback just yet. “My proudest moment was to represent the Indian team. There is a pride when I walk out to bat for India, there is nothing bigger than that. That feeling that you can win games for your country, that you can make the difference – call it X-factor or a player who will fight for the country to win a game, there is no greater feeling than that on earth,” Pujara was recently quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “Whenever the opportunity to play for India comes, I will be ready to play with that passion and pride that’s needed and with which I have always played. That will never change,” he added. India handed Test debuts to wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan. It’s a new-look middle-order as far as the hosts are concerned with KL Rahul out injured and Shreyas Iyer dropped following a poor run of form. The five-match series is level at 1-1.