Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara reunited with his India teammates before the final ODI of the three-match series between India and Australia which was played at his home ground in Rajkot, with the greetings captured in a wholesome video.
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Pujara has spent most of the past few months in England where he plays for Sussex during the English domestic summer. He last played for India in the World Test Championship final at The Oval in June, before resuming his Sussex duties as captain of their County Championship team in the second half of the season.
India have already sealed a series win over Australia in their last bilateral series before the World Cup, winning the first two games by comfortable margins. The final match of the series is taking place in Rajkot, which is Pujara’s home city.
The BCCI social media account put out a heartwarming video of Pujara joining up with the ODI squad before the game. In the video, he was warmly greeted by Rohit Sharma, and shared a laugh with head coach Rahul Dravid before being embraced by Ravichandran Ashwin.
He also shared a conversation and a smile with Virat Kohli on the boundary rope as the India players warmed up before the toss. Pujara was dressed in a black top rather than his India kit, having not been part of India’s ODI plans since 2014.
India were asked to field first as Australia racked up 352-7 in their fifty overs. Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne all passed fifty.
Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara reunites with India teammates below
Look who’s in attendance for the third #INDvAUS ODI 😃👌#TeamIndia catch-up with local lad @cheteshwar1 🤝 pic.twitter.com/91Zj9uvkuR
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 27, 2023