'Will India consider him for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy?' - Aakash Chopra ponders over Cheteshwar Pujara making the cut

With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy approaching fast, a lot has been doing the rounds when it comes to India's squad and the members it should be comprising. Despite Australia being a happy hunting ground for India as far as their previous tours to the region for the red-ball format is concerned, it is always a vigourously-debated topic. Notably, it was Cheteshwar Pujara, who was one of the vital contributors for those series.

In the same vein, it was former Indian cricketer, Aakash Chopra, who deliberated over whether India should be considering Pujara to be in their squad as the "defensive batter". 

"Will India consider him for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy? The series before the last one was Pujara's series. However, last time as well, everyone forgets that while breaking Gabba's pride, his entire body had turned blue by continuously getting hit by balls. So there too, Pujara was there and you don't see a defensive batter in this entire team. Is India still thinking? I am not sure they are but should they?," observed Chopra.

Also Read: Pujara scores 18th double century in first-class cricket, calls for national team comeback grow louder

He is cricket's pujari and his name is Pujara: Chopra

Chopra complimented Pujara by hailing him as "cricket's pujari", and was in awe of his remarkable expertise with the bat with him naming a handful of domestic legends he had surpassed.  

"Cheteshwar Pujara now has 18 double centuries. He is cricket's pujari (priest) and his name is Pujara. He is outstanding. Three players are ahead of him still, I was reading a tweet from Circle of Cricket - Don Bradman, Wally Hammond and Patsy Hendren. Herbert Sutcliffe and Mark Ramprakash are below him. 18 first-class double centuries - Cheteshwar Pujara sahab, you are different, you are unbelievable. He keeps scoring runs like this always. He is absolutely stellar," added Chopra. 

Also Read: IND vs NZ: Aakash Chopra questions Rohit Sharma’s decision to not use Ravichandran Ashwin enough on Day 5

Pujara scored almost half of Saurashtra's total in their Group D clash against Chhattisgarh. His 234 came in 383 deliveries, comprising 25 fours and a solitary maximum. It would be interesting to see how the national selectors view his innings as far as a spot in the squad for a defensively-solid batter is regarded.