Nottinghamshire rope in Cheteshwar Pujara in place of James Pattinson

Nottinghamshire lost one of it’s leading pacers in Australian fast bowler James Pattinson ahead of the county season as he was called-up to represent the national team. The County Cricket Club acted quickly and has made a statement right back by pursuing the services of India’s Test no.3 Cheteshwar Pujara.

Expected to be available from mid-May, the right-handed batsman will feature for the side in the Specsavers County Championship fixtures which will include both home and away games against Gloucestershire, as well as matches against Glamorgan and Derbyshire, at the SSE Swalec and Trent Bridge respectively.

According to Nottinghamshire’s director of Cricket Mick Newell, the club is delighted to welcome a batsman like Pujara who is one of finest in the Test circuit at the moment. He also emphasised on the fact that the club wanted to break the mainstream of replacing a bowler with a bowler and took a lot of time in finding the right player who will fit into the squad.

“We have looked around the world to find the right player,” said Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell. “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,”

“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,” he said.

Pujara has been labelled as a perfect replacement for Rahul Dravid not only in the Indian Team but on the whole as he possesses similar traits as the former Indian captain. He has completely justified the number 3 role in the Indian batting line-up. Since his first Test match for the country in 2011, he averages a praiseworthy 51 with 3798 runs in 48 matches.

The elegant stroke player also has 11 centuries to his name in Tests and has been in good touch lately scoring a double hundred against the mighty Aussies in the last Border-Gavaskar series. Pujara spoke about his love for county cricket and that he is gearing himself up for different challenges and competitive matches.

“I’m ready for it. I’m already working on my skills and preparing for competitive cricket,” added Pujara. “I love playing county cricket and Trent Bridge is a great venue. I’m really looking forward to my first experience there as a home player.

“The aim is to win as many games as possible so the team stays on top of the points table,” he concluded.