On Sunday, Pujara announced that he has retired from the game with immediate effect, ending a stellar career worth 103 Tests and 7,195 Test runs at an average of 43.60. He also played five ODIs in his international cricket career and last featured for India in the 2023 World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHe was a tremendous player. I served as an umpire in so many matches he played. Not only as a batter, as a human also he\u2019s very good and his contribution to Test cricket is very valuable. I always felt that he and (Ajinkya) Rahane have been heroes who haven\u2019t been much discussed. But he went on to play so many Test matches, so what a player and very humble, down to earth,\" Chaudhary told IANS on the sidelines of the CLT10 league.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Chaudhary, who has also interacted with Pujara during his recent foray into commentary stints, praised the right-handed batter\u2019s articulate nature and balanced analysis. \u201cI sometimes meet him during commentary stints. He is very good, speaks very well. I didn't think that he would articulate his analysis in cricket, as a commentator.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI sat and talked to him once and found him to be very balanced. He\u2019s been a great player and everyone will miss him. Even today, people who want to play in Test whites and who have been following the game for a very long time, they will miss Pujara.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Apart from being India\u2019s eighth highest run getter in Tests, Pujara also amassed an astounding 21,301 first-class runs, and was a part of Saurashtra\u2019s team winning Ranji Trophy in 2019\/20.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cNot only India, even Saurashtra will miss him. The services he has given to his state, the team he and (Ravindra) Jadeja has built up, and the people who used to play before like (Sitanshu) Kotak (current India batting coach), and the service they have done for their state, I would say he is an unsung hero and an outstanding player.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI really like him like anything. Whenever we have played a match, we have talked - out, not out and all the aspects of cricket, which is different. But his human angle, I like that a lot. We will miss him, certainly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cNot only India, even Saurashtra will miss him. The services he has given to his state, the team he and (Ravindra) Jadeja has built up, and the people who used to play before like (Sitanshu) Kotak (current India batting coach), and the service they have done for their state, I would say he is an unsung hero and an outstanding player.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo I think people should learn from Pujara. If your basics are right, which you are calling conventional cricket, then you can adapt to this fast-paced cricket,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n