Cheteshwar Pujara traveling to Australia before BGT 2024, but for different reasons; know more

In less than five days, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024 is set to commence with two world-class teams playing against each other. The Indian players have already traveled to Perth for their first game on November 22. While the squad has already been announced, fans are missing Cheteswar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in the team, who were the legendary players in the previous BGT series. 

However, Pujara is traveling to Australia ahead of the BGT series but this time for different reasons. He will be present in Perth as a commentator for Star Sports Hindi and not as a player, which is a huge change in his job profile. On the other hand, the fans will miss seeing him in action during the game.

Pujara has been nothing less than a backbone for India in the Test matches, and not having him in a series is actually a loss for the team. In the 2018-19 series, Pujara amassed 521 runs in seven innings at an average of 74.42 while playing in Australia. He took the blow from pace bowlers during the series but stood there like a wall, protecting the team from defeat. 

Are we missing Pujara? - Aakash Chopra

After the humiliating New Zealand series, where India were whitewashed, former batter Aakash Chopra put forward a solid question that has been in the minds of most viewers. The former player questioned Pujara's absence and whether the Indian team missed him in the series. Some might say that young players should be given a chance, while some will say that having experienced players is also important. While the topic is debatable, there are no correct answers to it.

"Are we missing Pujara? It's a big question actually. As a player, you might say that he would score these many runs and others would also score as many runs, so are you missing him that much? Maybe not, because at some stage you have to move beyond everyone. So you left Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in such a scenario," said Aakash Chopra.