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Indian Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara hosted a grand dinner party for the MS Dhoni-led Indian ODI team at his residence on Thursday, IBNLive reports. Fresh from their victory over South Africa in the 2nd ODI at Indore on Wednesday, the Indian team arrived at Rajkot, the venue of the 3rd ODI which will take place on Sunday, and paid a visit to their dear friend who resides in Rajkot.
Question marks might be remaining over the safe conduct of the match at Rajkot as Hardik Patel and his followers at the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) have threatened to disrupt the match using the high-profile encounter as a stage to raise their demand for reservations for the ‘Patidar’ community.
The Men in Blue tthough seemed not to be bothered as they arrived pretty much in full strength led by skipper MS Dhoni and spent a lot of time chatting with Pujara, which would have been a welcome change from the high-pressure series they are currently involved in. The dinner might have also have been a late birthday treat by Pujara who had only celebrated his 27th birthday only days before (October 9th, ironically also the day he made his Test debut five years ago against Australia).
Pujara, who has played 5 One-Day internationals for India, might no longer be considered for the 50-over format but is an integral part of the Test side as he showed with his match-winning knock in the third Test against Sri Lanka after coming into the match as a make shift opener. He carried his bat through the innings and was an instrumental figure in helping India clinch their first overseas victory since 2011.
The 27-year-old is presently preparing for the four-match Test series against the Proteas playing for Suarashtra in the Ranji Trophy. While his teammate Ravindra Jadeja might have been grabbing all the headlines with his impressive performances with both bat and ball, Pujara has been struggling with the bat in the two matches so far but will be hopeful of making amends in Saurashtra’s ongoing match against Himachal.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a picture of the special occasion on its official Twitter account which showed Dhoni and Virat Kohli right next to Pujara on either side while the likes of Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav and Shikhar Dhawan got themsleves clicked. Several members of the support staff were also seen.
