NEW DELHI: With the marquee Border-Gavaskar Test series all set to commence from February 9, India No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara has started prepping for the Aussie challenge, which boasts world-class bowling attack.
Pujara, who was last seen in the India jersey in the Bangladesh Test series, shared images of him practicing ahead of the four-Test series against Australia.
The first Test will be played in Nagpur from February 9, followed by the Delhi Test which will start from February 17. The third and fourth Tests will be played in Dharamsala and Ahmedabad respectively.
"Getting ready for India vs Australia," tweeted Pujara.
Pujara was in terrific touch last year where in the 5 Tests he scored 409 runs at an average of 45.44 that included a century and three fifties. Pujara's century last year in December came after 1,400-plus days.
Pujara had an below-par run in 2020 and 2021 where he averaged 20.37 and 28.08 and scored a total of 865 runs in the 18 Tests.
But a stint with Sussex county in England turned around things for him. In his eight matches for Sussex during the County Championship, he scored 1,094 runs at an average of 109.40. He scored five hundred-plus scores in the championship in 13 innings, with the best score of 231. He was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the championship.
Pujara is the sixth-highest run-scorer in history of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In 20 matches and 37 innings, he has scored 1,893 runs at an average of 54.08 with five centuries and 10 half-centuries and the best score of 204.
The Border-Gavaskar Test series is a big one for both teams as they look to nail down a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Australia is at the top of WTC standings with a win percentage of 75.56 and have won 10 Tests, lost one and drawn four. India is at the second spot with a win percentage of 58.93 and have won five Tests, lost four and drawn one.
India's Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat and Suryakumar Yadav.
(With inputs from ANI)
