Last Updated:
Cheteshwar Pujara, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, says he’s open to a career in coaching.
Cheteshwar Pujara played 103 Tests and five ODIs during his international career. (PTI Photo)
While he continues to enjoy his work as a broadcaster, Cheteshwar Pujara isn’t averse to a coaching stint either as he wants to stay attached to cricket after announcing his retirement from international cricket last week. Pujara retired after 103 Tests and five ODIs during his international career while amassing over 7000 runs across formats for India.
“I’ve enjoyed the broadcasting work for sure. So, I’ll definitely continue doing that. When it comes to coaching or any work at the NCA (Centre of Excellence), I’ll be open to it,” Pujara told news agency PTI.
Pujara, 37, hasn’t given coaching a serious consideration but will be happy to contribute to Indian cricket in any manner possible. “I haven’t genuinely thought about it. Whenever there is any opportunity which arises, I’ll try and take a call then…I’ve mentioned this earlier also that I would like to stay attached to the game. So, in whatever manner I can contribute to Indian cricket, I’ll be more than happy to do so,” he said.
Pujara, known for his classical style of batting that involves biding time and wearing down bowlers, admits that times have changed with batters now open to playing with an aggressive mindset in red-ball cricket too.
“I don’t think I am sad,” said Pujara on classical form of Test match batting slowly becoming part of history. “I still feel that even in the current era, there is scope for a classical Test match player. But times have changed. One needs to move on with the time.”
“And if I had to tell anything to a young player, I would definitely say that you should choose playing all three formats of this game because we are seeing more white ball cricket now,” he added.
Pujara’s thinks that now players are being picked in Test cricket even on the basis of how they perform in IPL or ODIs.
“So when you perform well in white ball cricket, you are automatically given a chance to represent the Indian Test team. And that’s why their game is on the aggressive side,” he explained.
But that doesn’t mean performances in Ranji Trophy, India’s premier red-ball competition, don’t count.
“So there is still a scope for players who are doing well in Ranji Trophy and still getting picked in the Test squad,” said Pujara citing the examples of Karun Nair and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital…Read More
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital… Read More
Read More
