Cheteshwar Pujara opens up for the 1st time after being kicked out of BCCI's Central Contracts List

Outcast Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara who played at number 3 for India’s Test team for better parts of the 2010s, reacted to BCCI’s new Test cricket scheme for the first time. The new scheme was revealed by BCCI honorable secretary Jay Shah on the day India completed the 4-1 Test series route against England at Dharamshala last week.

The scheme will not just incentivize the players but also empower the oldest format of Cricket. There was plenty of demand and outcry within the cricketing fraternity to save Test cricket from extinction. It came after players constantly started to snub red-ball cricket in order to prioritize franchise-based tournaments around the world. But that will not be the case in India anymore and Cheteshwar Pujara thinks it’s a massive initiative.

What did Cheteshwar Pujara say about BCCI’s new Test scheme

Cheteshwar Pujara took to X (formerly Twitter) to launch praise on Jay Shah taking this decision to save and further empower the longest format. Pujara, who recently featured for Saurashtra in Ranji Trophy 2024 before bowing out of the competition from the pre-quarterfinals stage, feels it’s a big step forward.

Starting his tweet, Cheteshwar Pujara confirmed that he was on a “refreshing” vacation with his family and that after coming across Jay Shah’s tweet, things got even more refreshing. Pujara highlighted that the scheme will reward and encourage players who put everything on the line to play for India’s Test team,

“Just got back from a refreshing trip with the family, and it is even more refreshing to see such a great initiative by Jay Shah and the BCCI! It will surely reward and encourage those performing for the country in the purest format of the game!” – Cheteshwar Pujara expressed himself on X.

It will mark a new beginning in the world of red-ball cricket and BCCI’s scheme could trigger other cricketing boards to make a similar decision. It’s specifically required for the weaker cricket-playing nations but that will also require them to generate a huge amount of funding.

The scheme is an easy one for the BCCI as the board generates a lot of revenue from viewership, ticket sales, and various advertisements. The Indian Premier League is also key in helping the board make a lot of money which they can use in cricket’s empowerment nationwide.

It was not just Cheteshwar Pujara who had words of appreciation for BCCI but several former cricketers too had an identical reaction. The likes of Aakash Chopra and Sunil Gavaskar among others, have all welcomed the scheme and are eager to see the future of Test cricket which looked bleak at one point.

How did Cheteshwar Pujara’s Ranji Trophy 2024 season go?

Cheteshwar Pujara had quite a successful Ranji Trophy season with Saurashtra. The team walked into the 2024 edition as the reigning champions but they were denied from entering the Quarter-finals after Tamil Nadu claimed an inning and 33-run victory.

From the 8 matches he played for Saurashtra, Cheteshwar Pujara scored 829 runs from 13 innings against Jharkhand, Haryana, Vidarbha, Services, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Manipur and Tamil Nadu. Regardless of it, he was not made a part of the BCCI central contract and his benefits from the new Test scheme is far from actually happening.