Cheteshwar Pujara makes himself available for this tournament after Ajinkya Rahane stepped down as Mumbai captain

Veteran Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara has reportedly made himself available for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season which is slated to kick off in October. Pujara has apparently expressed his interest to participate in the Ranji Trophy 2025-2026 season.

SCA confirms Cheteshwar Pujara's availability for Ranji Trophy

This will be the 37-year-old's first return to competitive play since the last season ended in February. According to a Cricbuzz report, the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) has confirmed Pujara's availability and also admitted that the Test specialist's vast experience will be invaluable to the team.

"He has signalled his readiness to play in the upcoming Ranji season. It is, of course, good news for us as his experience will be a big advantage for the team," an SCA official told Cricbuzz.

Notably, Pujara’s confirmation follows a similar move by fellow veteran Ajinkya Rahane, who recently stepped down as captain of the Mumbai team. Rahane, who led the team last season, stated that it was the right time for the squad to develop its next leader. Despite giving up the captaincy, he emphasized his full commitment to playing in all formats of domestic cricket.

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Team India's veteran batter Rahane and Pujara are currently sitting out of India's Test set up. Pujara's last appearance was in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June 2023, while Rahane's final Test match was against the West Indies in July 2023. This change in selection strategy was foreshadowed by then-Test captain Rohit Sharma in January 2024, who indicated the team was shifting its focus to nurturing young talent like Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel.

Despite the retirement of superstar players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from Test cricket during the IPL, the selectors chose not to recall Pujara or Rahane for the England tour. Instead, they opted to bring in Sai Sudharsan for the crucial number three position and gave Karun Nair a chance to make a comeback.

While Pujara's career stats are impressive, with 7,195 runs in 103 Test matches, he has not played in the County Championship this year. Instead, he took up a commentary role during India's tour of England. In the most recent Ranji Trophy season, Pujara demonstrated his consistent form by scoring 402 runs in seven matches, maintaining an average of 40.