West Indies v India 2023

Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara posts clip of typically obdurate net session in response to India Test axing

by Wisden Staff June 24, 2023 - 11:42am 2 minute read

Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara let his bat do all the talking, posting a clip of him from a net session a day after he was dropped from India’s Test squad for their tour of the Caribbean.

Pujara’s non-selection was the biggest talking point from the squad announcement on June 23, with the 35-year-old, who held the No.3 spot for over a decade, dropped after a long patch of poor returns. Since the start of 2020, Pujara averages 29.69 in 52 innings, bringing down his career average from 49.48 at the end of 2019 to 43.60 currently.

Pujara came into the World Test Championship final on the back of a fine run for Sussex in the County Championship: in six games, he hit three centuries and averaged 68.12 from eight innings. Against Australia in the final though, he managed 14 and 27 in India’s 209-run loss.

For the tour of the West Indies, India preferred to include two uncapped players in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, one of whom could take up the No.3 spot that Pujara made his own over the years.

There were some who questioned his non-selection, including Sunil Gavaskar, who even wondered if the call was made as Pujara isn’t active on social media as some of his contemporaries, and doesn’t enjoy the same digital following in millions as his peers.

In fact, Pujara does have 2.9 million followers on Twitter, and another 2 million on Instagram: on Saturday, a day after the announcement, he posted a clip of him fully kitted and batting, on both those social media accounts. The caption, without any words, had the “bat” and “heart” emoji, minimalist and straightforward, just like his batting.

In the nine-second video, Pujara was seen blocking deliveries in his trademark style and leaving some. It might not have been as attractive a highlights package as some of his younger teammates excel at, but it did convey the message clearly.