IND vs AUS: Cheteshwar Pujara picks 'one of the toughest Test series' he played in India

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has picked the toughest Test series he has played in the country. Pujara said that the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Test series) against Australia was one of the most intense and toughest he has played in India to date. Pujara revealed that the Australian cricket team was fully prepared and knew their game plan well and executed it well. He went on to add that the Indian team had to work hard to earn the victories. 

"It was one of the most intense Test series we have been part of. If you speak to any of the players who were part of that particular series they will tell you that it was one of the toughest series we've played in India. The Australian team was very well prepared. They knew their game plan really well and they executed it well. So, I thought we had to work hard to earn our victories," Pujara was quoted as saying to ESPNcricinfo. 

Pujara is part of the 17-member squad that the BCCI has named for the four-match contest. Pujara has played in all the Border-Gavaskar trophy series for the past several seasons including in 2021, which India won 2-1. He played a crucial role with the bat to help India win the series in absence of senior players such as Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravichandran Ashwin. Pujara was also part of the Indian squad that won the first-ever Test series on Australian soil in 2018-2019.

The first match of the upcoming Test series between India and Australia is scheduled to begin on February 9. The match will be played in Nagpur. The second, third, and fourth matches will take place in Delhi, Dharamsala, and Ahmedabad.  

India vs Australia, Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Full squads

India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

Australia's squad for the Test series against India: Pat Cummins (Captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

Image: AP