Cheteshwar Pujara Believes He Can Still Deliver For India In Tests, Says "I Still Had To Prove That I..."

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara opened up on his spot in India’s Test side and said that he can still deliver for the team if he is given an opportunity.

While speaking on The Final Word podcast, Cheteshwar Pujara accepted that there have been ups and downs in his career in the past few years.

The 35-year-old added that it is a bit challenging to come back but that he has to prove himself. Pujara said that it is also frustrating when one needs to prove themselves after 90 Test matches.

“There have been ups and downs in the last few years and it tests you as a player because having played say more than 90 Test matches when I got dropped, I still had to prove myself, I still had to prove that I belonged there. It’s a different type of challenge. Sometimes you do get frustrated, even if you have to prove yourself after 90 Tests and five-six thousand, whatever number of runs I had scored, it’s not easy,” Cheteshwar Pujara said.

Cheteshwar Pujara further said that it plays with ego since he has to prove himself even after being a part of the India Test squad for so many years.

“Sometimes it plays around with your ego. Having been successful at the international level for so many years, there are still doubts – are you’re good enough. And if you have to prove yourself again and again, [you wonder] whether it is worth it,” the 35-year-old added.

I keep telling myself that I know I belong there: Cheteshwar Pujara

The India Test veteran said that he knows what he contributed to the team and still has a lot to offer. Pujara talked about a few stats and said that when he scored more than 70 to 80 runs, India won the match 80 percent of the time.

“I keep telling myself that I know I belong there. I know that the kind of contributions I have made to Indian cricket, I still have a lot to contribute. I was given an interesting stat some time ago where I was told that whenever I have scored more than 70 or 80 runs for the Indian team, it is about 80% of the times India have gone on to win… or we haven’t lost that particular Test match. So I know if I score runs for the Indian team, most times we are on the winning side,” Pujara further added.

Cheteshwar Pujara last played a Test match for Team India in June 2023 against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, where he scored a total of 41 runs in both innings.

Pujara made his debut in 2010 against Australia, following which he has appeared in 103 Test matches for Team India and scored 7195 runs with an average of 43.60.