Cheteshwar Pujara makes his debut for Nottinghamshire in County Championship 2017

India’s Test No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara made his Nottinghamshire debut on Friday (May 19) in Glamorgan. He makes his way into the side as a replacement for Australia’s James Pattinson, who has been called up for national duties ahead of the Champions Trophy. The right-handed batsman has previously been a part of county cricket with Derbyshire (2014) and Yorkshire (2015).

Pujara arrived in the UK in mid-may and will be available for the Championship fixtures against Gloucestershire, Glamorgan and Derbyshire. He walked out to bat at no.3 after Timm van der Gugten sent back opener Steven Mullaney and Pujara joined Jake Libby. He took a single on the fifth ball to add first runs in his balance, he scored another run soon but then there was a 12-ball null where he was stuck at the crease. He was accounted by Marchant de Lange for 2 after spending 36 minutes in the middle.

A vital cog of the Indian Test side, Pujara has a staggering average of 51.32 in 48 Tests. In first-class cricket, he has 38 centuries under his belt at an average of 57.68. In his brief stints in county cricket during 2014 and 2015 he has averaged more than 50. Pujara took to Twitter to express his joy and excitement as he joins the Trent Bridge Cricket Club.

Glad to join @TrentBridge County Cricket Club for the ongoing @CountyChamp. Looking forward to an eventful county cricket stint? https://t.co/E5EYMVLNE3

— cheteshwar pujara (@cheteshwar1) May 4, 2017

Nottinghamshire has made an excellent start to their season in Division Two, as they defeated Leicestershire, Durham and Sussex. As a result, they are now on the top of the table and look for an immediate return to Division One.

“We have looked around the world to find the right player,” Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, Mick Newell, said. “The most important thing was to sign someone with the quality to make us better, rather than limiting our options by saying it had to be a bowler.

When asked why Pattinson’s replacement was not a bowler, Newell added: “We have depth in our squad with regards bowling and particularly as we’ll be without Alex Hales during that period we’re more than happy to welcome a world-class batsman to the club.”

The Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club recently posted a picture on their official Twitter account in which Pujara is proudly seen sporting his Nottinghamshire County Cap.

COUNTY CAP | The first glimpse of @cheteshwar1 proudly sporting his Nottinghamshire County Cap #GlamvNotts #TrentBridge pic.twitter.com/EA1Je9j0Jr

— Nottinghamshire CCC (@TrentBridge) May 19, 2017

Cheteshwar Pujara had a brilliant domestic season in 2016-17 and was one of the prime reason for India’s success in the Test season. He amassed 1,316 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 62.66 which include 4 tons. As a result in February 2017, during the one-off Test match against Bangladesh, he set a new record for the most runs by a batsman in an Indian first-class season, with 1,605 runs. The previous record belonged to Chandu Borde who had scored 1,604 runs in 1964–65.