Cheteshwar Pujara sweats out after being omitted from India's Test squad, shares training video

Following a forgettable outing in the 2023 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped from the Test squad for the away series against the West Indies. Pujara struggled with the bat, scoring a below-par score of 14 and 27 runs in the first and second innings, respectively in the all-important Test. Notably, the Rohit Sharma-led side suffered a 209-run defeat against Australia, their second straight loss in the WTC final. 

Pujara recently contributed significantly to Sussex's success in the County Championship Division Two by scoring three hundreds in four games. Notably, his form in the County won him a place in the one-off Test against Australia.

Despite his omission from India's Test squad, Pujara did not seem to give up on his international career. The 35-year-old took to Twitter and posted a video of himself practicing in the hard yards, which soon went viral.

Watch the video of Cheteshwar Pujara here:

🏏 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/TubsOu3Fah

— Cheteshwar Pujara (@cheteshwar1) June 24, 2023

Pujara, Surykumar likely to represent West Zone in Duleep Trophy

After failing to make it to the Indian Test squad, Cheteshwar Pujara has been reportedly added to the West Zone squad for the forthcoming Duleep Trophy. Apart from Pujara, the West Zone squad will also look to have the No. 1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav in their squad for the upcoming domestic tournament. Pujara and Suryakumar are likely to replace Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who have been named in India's Test squad for the away series against the West Indies.

The Duleep Trophy will kick off the 2023-24 domestic season on June 28 with the final on July 16. Additionally, West Zone will play its first match in the Duleep Trophy on July 5.

Meanwhile, Team India will play two Test matches, followed by three ODIs and five T20Is in their forthcoming tour to the Caribbean nation. This will be the Rohit Sharma-led side's first assignment in the World Test Championship Cycle 2023-25.