“I am still in the scheme of things” - Cheteshwar Pujara backs himself for Team India comeback after twin centuries for Sussex in One Day Cup

Cheteshwar Pujara, who was recently dropped for the two-match Test series against the West Indies, is optimistic about his Team India comeback for the series in South Africa later this year.

Pujara said that he is still in the scheme of things for Team India despite his failures in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. The right-handed batter returned with scores of 14 and 27 as India lost by 209 runs at The Oval.

Pujara’s statement comes after he smashed twin centuries for Sussex in the ongoing One-Day Cup. The 35-year-old first smashed an unbeaten 106 off 119 balls against Northamptonshire before scoring 117* against Somerset.

With 304 runs in four games, Cheteshwar Pujara is one of the leading run-scorers for Sussex.

He also smashed 133 for West Zone against Central Zone in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy.

Speaking on Sussex's YouTube channel, Cheteshwar Pujara said:

“Yeah, it’s nice to score runs. Look, I always try and control the things which I can and it’s always about getting as many runs as possible in whatever games I play. I am still in the scheme of things (for India), so I hope that the moment I start scoring runs in first-class games, I’ll be back into the team, but I’ll just try and be in the present, try and take one game at a time.”

“We are not going to play any more Test matches in the next two-three months' time," he continued. "The next Test series is in South Africa in December so there is a long way to go, but I’ll try and focus on the next few games and then try and move into the Championships because we have a few important Championships games coming up in September. We have a chance to qualify and that’s the prime focus for us.”

Cheteshwar Pujara earlier scored 545 runs in six games for Sussex, including three tons, in County Championship Division Two.

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When Sunil Gavaskar slammed selectors for dropping Cheteshwar Pujara

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar slammed the selectors for dropping Cheteshwar Pujara for the West Indies tour in June. He said that the entire batting unit, including captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill failed to deliver in the WTC final.

"Why has he been dropped? Why has he been made the scapegoat for our batting failures? He has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket. A loyal and quiet servant. A loyal and quiet achiever," Gavaskar said.

“But because he does not have millions of followers on platforms who will make a noise in case he gets dropped, you drop him. That is something beyond understanding. What is the criteria of dropping him and keeping the others who failed?” he added.

Cheteshwar Pujara will next be seen in action against Glamorgan in Hove on Sunday, August 13.