Akash Chopra Opens Up On Cheteshwar Pujara’s Comeback To Indian Team
London: Former India opener Akash Chopra opened up on Cheteshwar Pujara’s comeback to the Indian cricket team for the much-awaited World Test Championship Final 2023 which will be, played at Kennington Oval London. Pujara represented Sussex in County Championships and led the side, which will help India build confidence reckoned Chopra.
“Pujara has scored a lot of runs in county cricket. In fact, because of that only he made a comeback into the Indian team, but the truth is that he has probably played only one match fewer than Kohli but his numbers are not flattering at all,” Chopra said as he previewed the final.
“His (Pujara’s) average is less than 30. It is either 26 or 29. His and Rahane’s averages are almost equal. One has 26 and the other has 29. They have played a lot of matches, have struck a century apiece as well but the average on England grounds over a period of time is below 30, which is not great,” Chopra further said.
This will be the second time team India is playing WTC, earlier the side was outclassed by Kane Williamson-led New Zealand. Now, Rohit Sharma led India will look to clinch the title.
In the last edition of WTC, Pujara was unable to perform as the batter just managed to score 23 runs. Now, all the eyes will be on India’s vetaran Test batter considering his current form in County cricket.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner