'I scored majority of runs, yet we would lose...': Cheteshwar Pujara opens up on his early experiences with Saurashtra

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'I scored majority of runs, yet we would lose...': Cheteshwar Pujara opens up on his early experiences with Saurashtra
Cheteshwar Pujara in this frame

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Cheteshwar Pujara has retired from all forms of cricket

Pujara scored a total of 7774 runs for Saurashtra

Cheteshwar Pujara announced his sudden retirement from all forms of cricket on Sunday. This came after the 37-year-old hadn't been able to make his way back into the Indian team after getting dropped following the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia in 2023.

Despite not being able to make a comeback to the international circuit, Pujara continued to impress in both domestic and county cricket. In his previous Ranji Trohy campaign, the batter scored 402 runs from just 7 matches for Saurashtra before hitting 501 501 runs for Sussex in six first-class matches.

After announcing his retirement, Pujara recalled his early days with Saurashtra and revealed that the team would go on to lose even though he would score majority of the runs. He further stated that with his team slightly being on the 'weaker' side, many of his centuries would end up going in vain.

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"I started playing for Saurashtra at an early age, when the team was slightly on the weaker side. I still remember those Under-14 days - whenever I scored a hundred and then got out, the team would often be bowled out for 220-230. Sometimes even 180-190," Pujara told Cricbuzz.

"I would score the majority of the runs in that game, and yet we would end up losing. After that, I realised that scoring just a hundred was not good enough for the team. I had to score big hundreds. So I started aiming for 150s, double hundreds, even triple hundreds in junior cricket-whether it was Under-14, Under-16, or Under-19. That's how I developed the habit of having patience, discipline, and determination to score big runs," he added.

Pujara played a big role in Saurashtra's promotion

Pujara, who made his first-class debut back in 2005, also sharted how the side got promoted from the Plate Division to the Elite Division after his debut. He added that his habit of scoring a big number of runs for the side carried on and massively helped in making him a better player.

"That habit carried on into the Ranji Trophy as well. At that time, Saurashtra was in the Plate Division. After I made my debut, we got promoted to the Elite Division, and slowly things started to fall into place. But I realised that if I were playing for a slightly weaker team, just scoring a hundred wasn't enough," Puajar stated.

"You had to score big runs to give the team a chance to win. That's how the habit started, and it carried on. Eventually, Saurashtra became a stronger unit. But once you create a good habit, it stays with you for a long time," he further added.

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Meanwhile, Pujara is nothing short of a legend for Saurashtra, scoring a total of 7774 runs for the side while maintaining a blistering average of 62. He also hit a total of 19 centuries for them and played a major role in the side becoming a powerful team at the domestic circuit.