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<\/p>\nLast Updated:August 28, 2025, 15:28 IST<\/p>\n
Cheteshwar Pujara says he was looking forward to the upcoming season but then decided against extending his playing career.<\/p>\n
Cheteshwar Pujara will go down in history as one of India’s finest Test batters. (PTI Photo)<\/p>\n
Taking a cue from his former India teammates, Cheteshwar Pujara also walked into sunset, drawing curtains on a memorable international career. In the past nine months, top India cricketers have announced retirements including Ravichandran Ashwin (all forms of Indian cricket), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (both from Tests) with Pujara being the latest to join the club.<\/p>\n
Even though Pujara last played a Test for India in 2023, he was a regular fixture in Indian domestic cricket and was in fact, looking forward to the latest season that got underway from Thursday with the Duleep Trophy quarterfinals in Bengaluru.<\/p>\n
Then what led to the change of heart?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in the UK (on broadcasting duties during Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy), I was actually looking forward to the season,” Pujara told news agency PTI. \u201cBut once I came back home, I was settling in and when I was about to start my preparation for the Ranji Trophy, I wanted to speak to my family, to my friends, some of my colleagues. What are their thoughts on me playing this season.”<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I knew that if I played another season, I would be holding a spot in the team and I didn\u2019t want to do that. And I wasn\u2019t 100 per cent sure that I wanted to carry on playing the entire season,” he added.<\/p>\n
Pujara said it\u2019s time to hand over the baton to the next generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I thought that it was the best time for me to move on and provide an opportunity to the younger player who can be part of the Saurashtra team,” he said.<\/p>\n
True to his batting style, Pujara is known for his calm demeanour and an affable personality. And he got a little emotional when recalling the contribution of his father Arvind Pujara, his coach and former first-class player, and late mother, Reena Pujara.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an emotional moment for him as well. He also was an inspiration for me because his commitment towards cricket was excellent and I\u2019ve learnt a lot from him. But I also would like to thank my mom,” Pujara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost my mom when I was 17 because of cancer, but she taught me a lot of things. She taught me to be a good human being. My wife Pooja as well, she has written a book where she writes that it takes a village for a person to be a successful cricketer,” he added.<\/p>\n
With PTI Inputs<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n 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<\/p>\n News<\/a> cricket<\/a> Cheteshwar Pujara Breaks Silence On Why He Retired: ‘When I Was In The UK…’Disclaimer: Comments reflect users\u2019 views, not News18\u2019s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Updated:August 28, 2025, 15:28 IST Cheteshwar Pujara says he was looking forward to the upcoming season but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4101],"tags":[32443,132602,132603,132604,129640,1406,16397,89920,132605,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-381403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-cheteshwar-pujara","9":"tag-cheteshwar-pujara-age","10":"tag-cheteshwar-pujara-latest-news","11":"tag-cheteshwar-pujara-ranji-trophy","12":"tag-cheteshwar-pujara-retirement","13":"tag-cricket","14":"tag-india-cricket-team","15":"tag-ranji-trophy","16":"tag-saurashtra-cricket-team","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115109490064291781","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"authorimg\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756431315_735_feroz-khan-bio-2023-11-6c2f93ba4c73f529939cc02bb184e2ac.jpeg\")
Feroz Khan<\/a><\/p>\n