Sanjay Manjrekar vouches for 35-year-old veteran ahead of WTC Final, 'They still need him'

India is slated to take on Australia in the World Test Championship final on 7th June. The men in blue qualified for this coveted summit clash for the consecutive second time and their priority will be to lift the ICC Test mace. The Indian team has been practicing on English soil to prepare them for the WTC final.

Cheteshwar Pujara has been one of the backbones of the Indian batting lineup. The 35-year-old has bailed his side on multiple occasions and the onus will be once again on him to utilize his potential at the Oval where the WTC final will take place. The right-handed batsman plied his trade for County giants Sussex and has shown a classic batting display.

Sanjay Manjrekar backs Indian top-order batsman to shine in WTC final

Pujara has consistently delivered for the team, having churned out three centuries and one half-century in the campaign. He will further provide solidity to the Indian side in the WTC Final. Ace commentator Sanjay Manjrekar also lavished praises on the player. In an interaction with ESPN Cricinfo, the former Indian cricketer revealed Pujara is the most dependable player for India and they will need him in this WTC final.

“He has always played County cricket, whether India have a tour scheduled in England or not. Because there's T20 cricket going on in India at the time. He was dropped last year, and we saw how life after Pujara could be, and it wasn't that great. Today, Pujara is the most dependable player in the Indian lineup,”

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“After he came back, I'm ready to accept that India is not ready for life after Pujara yet. They still need him.”

Pujara is expected to play a part for the Indian team, which also has stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill. Pujara's expertise on this English surface would come in handy as his county experience could be a major boost for Rahul Dravid And Co.

Indian squad for the WTC final

Rohit Sharma (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, KS Bharat, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadakt, Umesh Yadav.

Reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav