New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) Former international cricket umpire Anil Chaudhary paid a glowing tribute to Cheteshwar Pujara following his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket, calling him an ‘unsung hero’ whose contribution to Test cricket will always remain very valuable.

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.

“He 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’s very good and his contribution to Test cricket is very valuable. I always felt that he and (Ajinkya) Rahane have been heroes who haven’t 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.

Chaudhary, who has also interacted with Pujara during his recent foray into commentary stints, praised the right-handed batter’s articulate nature and balanced analysis. “I 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.”

“I sat and talked to him once and found him to be very balanced. He’s 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.”

Apart from being India’s eighth highest run getter in Tests, Pujara also amassed an astounding 21,301 first-class runs, and was a part of Saurashtra’s team winning Ranji Trophy in 2019/20.

“Not 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.”

“I 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,” he added.

Reflecting on Pujara’s traditional batting technique and grinding out bowlers to get big runs, Chaudhary underlined its relevance across all formats. “If your basics are right, which you are calling traditional, then you can adapt to any format. But if you only play white ball and this small format, then you will struggle in other formats.”

“So 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,” he concluded.

–IANS

nr/