Last week’s reports suggested that Cheteshwar Pujara had expressed his willingness to take part in the 2025 edition of India’s premier red-ball competition, Ranji Trophy, however, the 37-year-old quashed all of them by announcing retirement from all formats.
India’s wall after the wall, Cheteshwar Pujara, one of the best Test batters for more than a decade, hung up his boots from all formats of the game on Sunday, August 24. Pujara mentioned that representing India at the highest level was a dream and an honour and felt content with what he was able to achieve. However, the decision was a surprising one, considering that only last week, a Cricbuzz report claimed that the 37-year-old had expressed his willingness to play in the 2025 edition of the Ranji Trophy.
Pujara revealed why he decided to change his mind and whether there was any influence on his decision. “It was my personal call and I thought that this is the right time, especially when young players should get opportunities in domestic cricket,” Pujara told SportsTak after the announcement. “Earlier, I thought maybe I would play this season of Ranji Trophy, but I felt that if young players get the opportunity, it will allow them to get prepared a bit sooner. So this was my personal call.”
Pujara didn’t divulge about his time on the sidelines for the last couple of years, having last represented India during the World Test Championship (WTC) final 2023 against Australia, but felt content with what he was able to achieve wearing the baggy blue.
The 37-year-old scored 7,195 runs in 103 Test matches, fighting it out against the best of the bowling attacks across the world, putting his body on the line and wearing out the opponents by batting time.
“For about a week, I thought a little that this was the right time. So today, when I took this decision, it was quite a proud moment for me and for my whole family. I want to thank all my teammates, my coaches, and all the support staff I worked with. Representing the Indian team, from childhood, when I was small, it was always a dream to play for India. When that dream got completed and for so many years this journey went on, we created so many memories, so there are many proud moments in my career till now,” Pujara added while mentioning that the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy victory Down Under was the best moment of his career for India.