Cheteshwar Pujara had been a rock in the Indian Test team for the better part of the last ten years, until he was dropped recently from the Test side due to dismal and inconsistent form.
Having made his debut on October 9, 2010, Pujara has featured in 95 Tests for India, in which he amassed 6713 runs at an average of 43. He has struck 18 centuries and 32 fifties. Cheteshwar Pujara also got to play in 5 ODIs between 2013 and 2014, managing only 51 runs.
Whether he gets to play another Test or not, Cheteshwar Pujara will go down in Indian Test folklore as one of the most solid, dependable batters due to his batting approach similar to Rahul Dravid.
Around and after the time Cheteshwar Pujara made his India debut, several cricketers have also played for the country but many also faded away sooner than expected.
Here are 5 such players who debuted with Cheteshwar Pujara but faded away.
Saurabh Tiwary
As a youngster, Saurabh Tiwary was one of the brightest talents in Indian cricket, but sadly couldn’t make it big. The Jharkhand batsman burst onto the scene with his MS Dhoni hairstyle and hard-hitting batting, making the first big noise in the 2010 IPL, helping Mumbai Indians reach the final and bagging the Emerging Player of the Season award.
Impressive performances everywhere earned him an India ODI cap in 2010. He scored 49 runs in 3 matches before being dropped and never to be picked up again for the country. His IPL numbers took a nosedive too, so did his domestic numbers. He had recently gone unsold in the IPL 2022 mega-auction. The 32-year-old still has plenty of gas left in the tank and continues to play domestic cricket.
Jaydev Unadkat
Saurashtra pacer Jaydev Unadkat made his Test debut in December 2010, as a 19-year-old in South Africa. He had a poor game, conceding 101 runs for no wickets and never got a Test call-up after that.
The left-arm seamer got a second wind in international cricket when he played 7 ODIs in 2013, picking up 8 wickets. However, he was soon out of the national setup.
Unadkat continued to grind in domestic cricket and in the last season led Saurashtra to the Ranji Title, while becoming the leading wicket-taking pacer in a single Ranji Trophy season. He is also a regular in the IPL.
Abhinav Mukund
Abhinav Mukund was part of the squad that won the under-19 World Cup in 2008. After slamming loads of runs in domestic cricket – including a triple-century – Mukund got his India Test cap in 2011 on the West Indies tour when both Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were injured.
