The sun rises. The wind whistles.

The bowler runs in and releases the ball.

It reaches Pujara. Pujara leaves.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

****

The sun now shines brightly. The bowler sweats.

Another delivery, Pujara defends.

The fielders glance at the sky. Spectators snap their fingers.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

****

You step away from the cricket and take a walk.

Flowers drift with the breeze, river streams glisten. Even inside, you can hear each droplet of water as you wash the dishes, the TV humming softly in the background.

Back on the field, applause drifts across the stands. Commentators fill the silence. You begin to notice the shades of grass, the cracks on the pitch, the shape of the umpire’s hat.

Hours pass. The sun begins to set.

Friends catch up over a beer, rivals turn partners, families reunite.

The bowlers are still running in. And Cheteshwar Pujara is still there.

Block. A single. A couple of runs. A four down the ground. Block again.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

****

Cheteshwar Pujara could make you feel time and cricket in its purest form.

The crisp sound of his defensive stroke striking the middle of the willow had a beauty of its own.

You might not be glued to your screens for every ball, but you knew: as long as he was there, Team India was safe.

That safety net is now gone. Pujara has officially retired. In his own words, “All good things must come to an end.”

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The Day Pujara Arrived – My First Memory

I vividly recall Pujara’s debut in 2010. In a tense second-innings chase of 207, he was sent in at #3 while Rahul Dravid was dropped down the order.

Pujara scored 72 (129) at a strike rate of 80.89. In that moment, I thought to myself, India had found an absolute gem.

At the same time, it felt like the beginning of the end for Rahul Dravid, my favorite player growing up (Here is the first article I ever wrote, What Rahul Dravid Taught Me).

The passing of the torch was happening in real time.

The Dawn of the Pujara Decade

Later that year in South Africa, Pujara struggled against the pace and bounce. However, after the horrors of 0-8 in 2011 and the retirements of Laxman and Dravid, he roared back into the side in 2012.

Between August 2012 and March 2013, Pujara score 159, 206*, 135, and 204 against New Zealand, England, and Australia, cementing his place in the team for a decade to come.

He continued delivering memorable knocks over the next four years: 153 at Johannesburg, carrying in bat with a 145* in Colombo, 202 at Ranchi, and a string of hundreds against Sri Lanka in 2017.

By the end of 2017, the 29-year old Pujara had played 53 Tests, averaging 53.38.

Pujara’s Annus Mirabilis – Australia’s Nightmare, His Masterpiece

In 1905, Albert Einstein published papers on photoelectric effect, special relativity, Brownian motion, and e=mc^2, all in a single year. Such a feat is called a scientists’ Annus Mirabilis or “miracle year.”

Sir Isaac Newton had his miracle year in 1665-1666 (calculus, laws of motion, gravity). Marie Curie discovered polonium and radium in 1898, Ramanujan revolutionized partitions and prime numbers in 1919-20, Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps dominated 2008, and Sachin Tendulkar owned 1998.

For Cheteshwar Pujara, it was the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar series.

Australia is notoriously a graveyard for visiting sides, especially Asian teams. India came close in 2003-04 with a 1-1 draw, but a series win remained elusive.

Against Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, and Lyon in their prime, Pujara’s performances were nothing short of heroic: From 3/19, Pujara’s 123 at Adelaide revived India, followed it up with a 71 (204) in the second innings, a Boxing day century at the MCG, and a 193-run epic in Sydney.

After facing 1258 balls, scoring 521 runs with 3 centuries, he deservedly won the Player of the Series award in India’s historic 2-1 victory.

Pujara carried India on his shoulders in that series, cementing his place in the pantheon of legends in Indian cricket.

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Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21: The Series That Defined Grit

The next tour was not as prolific for Pujara, but he was every bit as instrumental.

He would score 271 runs off 928 balls. No hundreds, and three of his own slowest fifties. Yet he hung in there, took the body blows, and helped India edge to a 2-1 victory once again, coming back from 36/9.

An unlikely triumph, one of the most memorable in recent history.

Also Read: India Vs Australia Series Review 2020-21: The Greatest Story of Them All? Better Than Ashes 2005? Top 10 Life Lessons From India Vs Australia 2020

The Unlikely Allies, Pujara and Pant

Staying at the crease and building partnerships was Pujara’s greatest strength. While he was at the crease, India scored 53471 runs.

He forged partnerships with Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, and of course, Virat Kohli. But my favorite was the Pujara-Pant partnership.

Yin and Yang, bullet train and freight train, cheetah and sloth. No matter the analogy you choose, their unlikely pairing was perfectly in sync.

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Did Pujara Fulfill His Potential?

The 2023 WTC Final, where India lost its second consecutive title, would be his last Test. In the final four years, Pujara averaged 20.37, 28.08, 45.44, and 25.85, dropping his career average from a peak of 67.63 (after 16 Tests) to 43.6.

Pujara-Kohli-Rahane were meant to succeed Dravid-Tendulkar-Laxman. They all had their moments, a few prolific years, but it ended far too soon.

Rahane did not make it to 100 Tests, and Kohli fell 770 runs short of the 10K club. While Pujara crossed the 100-Test milestone, played 13 years, and scored 7195 runs, he faced 15,041 fewer balls than Dravid.

But numbers tell only part of the story. He batted in an era of challenging pitches where top-order batters struggled worldwide. Yet, he conquered the mighty Australians, not once, but twice.

And no one can ever take that away from him.

Also Read: Top 60 Greatest Indian Cricketers

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The Last of His Kind

Rahul Dravid’s ESPNCricinfo profile begins with “Rahul Dravid was probably one of the last classical Test match batters.”

He was a rare breed but was not alone: Chanderpaul, Younis Khan, Graeme Smith, Sangakkara stood alongside him. Later came Cook, Trott, Elgar, Azhar Ali, and yes, Pujara.

Although Root and Williamson carry on the tradition of Test match batting, their style blends the old with the modern.

But with Pujara’s retirement, it feels like the cricket world has truly witnessed the last of the classical Test batters.

The end of an era.

What Cheteshwar Pujara Taught Me

We live in a world of Reels and TikToks, where watching a 15-second clip seems too long, a 45-minute class boring, and a five-year career? Unfathomable.

In a world of instant gratification, Pujara reminds me that old-school values still matter.

Resilience. Patience. Grit. These words immediately spring to mind when you think of Pujara. His relationship with time was beyond imagination. The ability to have a long-term vision, while making every moment count.

What Will I Remember the Most?

Apart from the Australia series and the partnerships, I will remember Pujara’s cut shots, and movement against spin. Speaking of spin, a word on Nathan Lyon.

Nathan Lyon vs Pujara was one of our generation’s greatest contests. One of the finest off-spinners of all-time tried every trick, and all Pujara does is dance down the wicket, and pad him away. Something I will never forget.

I highly recommend watching the first season of The Ashes. The Australians saw so much of Pujara that he broke them mentally and physically. I will leave you with some quotes from that web series:

This man just “Bats, and Bats, and bats.”

“Pujara, to a younger generation, is almost a curiosity. As the game moves more and more towards T20, the savior of our game, the word ‘resilience’ starts to go out, because there is no time for resilience.”

– Harsha Bhogle

“Pujara is old school, he’s a classic Test match batsman.”

– Peter Lalor

****

Thank you for reading! If you liked this, you may enjoy reading in the Tributes and Biographies section.

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BCD#402 © Copyright @Nitesh Mathur and Broken Cricket Dreams, LLC 2023. Originally published on 09/28/2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Broken Cricket Dreams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content (i.e. linked to the exact post/article).