India middle-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara wasn’t picked in IPL 2022 auctions. Well, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He flew to England where he scored tons of runs playing county cricket and then made a comeback into India’s Test squad. As the selectors sat down to pick the squad for five match T20I series and the only Test against England which was canceled in 2021 due to Covid outbreak, they couldn’t ignore Pujara thanks to his superb scores in the county championship. Pujara said had he played the IPL, he wouldn’t have made a comeback after being dropped for the two match Test series at home against Sri Lanka.
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“You can say that now in hindsight. Had I been picked by an IPL team, there were major chances that I wouldn’t have got any games. I would have just gone (to nets) and practiced. Getting match practice and practice in the nets is always different. So when the county thing happened, I just said yes. The major reason I said yes to the county (stint) is that I wanted my old rhythm back,” Pujara told The Indian Express from Paris, where he is on holiday.
Compare this to Ajinkya Rahane who was picked in IPL where his runs dried up which led to his failure to secure a place in the Test side. On the other hand, Pujara proved his worth by amassing 720 runs in the championship with scores of 6, 201 not out, 109, 12, 203, 16, 170* and 3.
“I was positive, there was no doubt about it. The way my county stint went, I was hopeful that I will make a comeback to the Indian team. But when I went to play county cricket, the India comeback was never on my mind; I just wanted to find my rhythm and I knew one big ins would help me find my rhythm back.”
He added that he was on the lookout for 150 plus scores not just baby hundreds.
“I was just trying to find my old form. If you look at my innings in the past, I was getting 80s, 90s, so I never felt I was out of form even when the big runs were not coming. I was just hoping to get big runs. Big runs means not 100 but 150-plus scores. Because to get back to my usual concentration level, I needed those big scores. And I found that in England. I found my rhythm and as I got those runs, things began to fall in place.”
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