Ahead of the finals of the Test Championship, the Indian team has started preparing at the Oval Cricket Ground. Apart from Cheteshwar Pujara, all other players are looking to adapt to the English conditions. Notably, when other Indian players were busy in the Indian Premier League 2023, Pujara was leading Sussex in the County Cricket Championship.
Meanwhile, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar praised Pujara and called him the most dependable player of the season. “He has always played County cricket, whether India has a tour scheduled in England or not. Because there’s T20 cricket going on in India at the time. He was dropped last year, and we saw how life after Pujara could be, and it wasn’t that great. Today, Pujara is the most dependable player in the Indian lineup,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
“After he came back, I’m ready to accept that India is not ready for life after Pujara yet. They still need him,” said Manjrekar further. Notably, Pujara has been phenomenal throughout the County Championship. He scored 545 runs in eight innings at an average of 68.13 with the help of three centuries and a half-century.
Cheteshwar Pujara will be key for India against Australia
Cheteshwar Pujara played his 100th Test for India earlier this year in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ajinkya Rahane, who was summoned back into the Test squad after Shreyas Iyer’s injury, is expected to return to the Playing XI for the World Test Championship final match. Meanwhile, the Indian team is set to face Australia on June 7 at the Oval Cricket Ground in London.
Rohit Sharma and his team will be looking to continue their dominance against Australia and will look to replicate their performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Notably, in last year’s summit clash, New Zealand beat India by 8 wickets. India will be looking to get Test mace home after a decade. Meanwhile, Australia will be looking to continue their dominance in the multinational tournaments.
