Cheteshwar Pujara rings the bell at Lord's to flag off Day 3 of ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test [In Pictures]

Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara rang the bell at Lord's to mark the beginning of play on Day 3 of the third Test between England and India. The game, being played at the iconic venue, is currently in a state of balance.

The bell is located just outside the Bowlers' Bar in the Lord's Pavilion. The tradition began in 2007, and the bell has been rung ever since by legendary former cricketers, dignitaries, and well-known sporting icons.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who has not yet retired from international cricket, is now among the very few active players to have gotten the honour of ringing the five-minute bell at the historic venue.

"I was a little nervous ringing the ball this morning because everyone is looking at you and you don't want to mess up," Pujara said on BBC.

Notably, the legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar, who was in attendance at Lord's, rang the bell on the opening day to flag off the Test match. The ceremony takes place a little time before the start of play. It was also the first time that Tendulkar rang the bell.

Cheteshwar Pujara is not part of the Indian team but is in England on media duties, providing expert commentary throughout the series.

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Cheteshwar Pujara last played Test cricket in 2023

Cheteshwar Pujara has been out of favor and away from the Indian Test team for a significant period now. He last played a Test match for India in 2023 during the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) against Australia at The Oval.

He was not a part of the home series against New Zealand in 2024 and was also left out of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The team appears to have moved on from Pujara, as he was not selected for the England tour, despite the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have retired from the format.

The veteran batter made his Test debut against Australia in 2010. He has represented the country in 103 matches so far, scoring 7195 runs at an average of 43.60 with 19 hundreds, 35 half-centuries, and a top score of an unbeaten 206.

In England, Pujara has played 16 Tests, making 870 runs at an average of 29 with a century and five fifties.