Cheteshwar Pujara, one of the foremost Test specialists within the twenty first century, has introduced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The 37-year-old took to social media on Sunday (August 24, 2025) morning to make his retirement announcement public.
“As a little boy from the small town of Rajkot, along with my parents, I set out to aim for the stars; and dreamt to be a part of the Indian cricket team. Little did I know then that this game would give me so much – invaluable opportunities, experiences, purpose, love, and above all a chance to represent my State and this great Nation,” Pujara wrote in an announcement.
“Wearing the Indian jersey, singing the anthem, and trying my best each time I stepped on the field – it’s impossible to put into words what it truly meant. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and with immense gratitude I have decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket.”
Cheteshwar Pujara.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu
Even although the 37-year-old final featured in a Test greater than two years in the past, Pujara was lively on the home circuit. Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal loss towards Gujarat in February turned out to be his final aggressive look in a First Class profession spanning nearly 20 years.
In Pictures | Cheteshwar Pujara, one of the foremost Test specialists in twenty first century, retires
Former Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara introduced his retirement from all forms of cricket on August 24, 2025. Pujara is most remembered for India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph in Australia in 2018 and 2020. He troubled Australia together with his stable defence and method.
In the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy sequence, he scored 271 runs from 4 matches at a mean of 33.87, with three fifties and a greatest rating of 77. In the ultimate Test at The Gabba, he endured a number of physique blows from Australian pacers on his physique, making the win much more memorable.
Pujara was all about classical batsmanship marinated in Test whites. Pujara has performed 103 Tests scoring 7,195 runs with 206 not out being his highest rating. He has scored 19 centuries together with 35 half-centuries.
Solidity on the crease and a way of dignity remained Cheteshwar Pujara’s particular attributes.
In firstclass cricket, he has performed 278 matches scoring 21,301 runs with 352 being his highest. His common in first-class cricket is 51.82. He has scored 66 centuries and 81 half-centuries.
The crowd’s raucous affection was reserved for Tendulkar and Kohli, whereas for Dravid and his successor Pujara, there was muted respect. Incidentally Pujara made his Test debut in Dravid’s hometown Bengaluru in 2010, and that too towards Australia, an opponent he usually defied by means of his storied profession.
Cheteshwar Pujara additionally has performed 71 T20 matches scoring 1,556 runs with 100 being his greatest.
In an age of bling, mighty sixes and hyperbole, Cheteshwar Pujara was an exception. The old style batter was desperate to grind out assaults, took blows on his physique, and infrequently laid the inspiration for his extra effervescent team-mates like Virat Kohli to prosper.
Cheteshwar Pujara rings the five-minute bell earlier than the beginning of the third day of the third Test match between India and England, on the Lord’s Cricket Ground, in London on July 12, 2025. sequence. Anil Kumble, who coached India throughout half of Pujara’s profession, hailed him as a real ambassador of the sport. “Congratulations on a fantastic career! You have been a great ambassador of this wonderful game,” he mentioned.
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Of the 278 First Class matches that he represented, Pujara revelled in a majority of the 103 Test matches he performed for India. While knee accidents curtailed his restricted overs profession – he performed the final of his 5 ODIs and the final of his 30 IPL matches in 2014, he emerged as Rahul Dravid’s successor as India No. 3 in white flannels.
More than his tally of 7195 runs at 43.60, together with 19 tons of and 35 fifties, it was Pujara’s uncanny skill to blunt opposition bowlers that got here to the fore repeatedly. He was at his peak throughout India’s maiden Test sequence triumph in Australia in 2018-19. Pujara not solely scored 521 runs to emerge because the top-scorer of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but in addition confronted a whopping 1258 balls.
With him being thought-about as a Test specialist in worldwide cricket, Pujara continued to contribute to Saurashtra’s emergence as a home power to reckon with. His tally of 21301 First Class runs is the fourth-highest by an Indian batter. No Indian batter has scored greater than Pujara’s 18 double tons of. He can be a member of a uncommon batters’ membership to have scored three triple tons of.
