IND vs ENG: Cheteshwar Pujara Credits Ranji Trophy Stint With Saurashtra For Team India Comeback

Indian top-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara said that his confidence grew as he played more and more matches for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy season this year.

Following the brief stint, he left for Sussex where he was playing alongside the likes of Mohammad Rizwan, enjoying his cricket and getting a better understanding of his game.

“The most important thing was playing so many first-class games. I was preparing for this when I was playing back home before I joined Sussex. In the three games I played for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy, I found my rhythm, knew that I was batting well.”

“It was about getting a big score and so when I had that in my first game, I knew that everything is back to normal now. (I was) finding my footwork, the back lift was coming along well,” said Pujara in an interview on BCCI.tv.

“The most important thing is having a good time on the field” – Cheteshwar Pujara

Pujara was dropped from the Indian squad when New Zealand visited last year and it was important for the right-hander to go back to square one and start all over again.

“After that, I just wanted to enjoy my game and contribute to the team’s success. The most important thing is having a good time on the field. I love this game, enjoy playing cricket, so whenever I am on the field I want to try and make the most of it,” he also added.

Pujara returned to the Test side when he was named in the squad for the one-off Test against England in Edgbaston starting on July 1.

India Test Squad for Edgbaston Test: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Srikar Bharat (wk)

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