Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth called Cheteshwar Pujara one of India's top three batters in Tests in Australia after the latter's recent retirement. The 37-year-old announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket through his social media handle on Sunday, August 24.Pujara finished with excellent overall Test numbers, scoring 7,195 runs at an average of 43.60, including 19 centuries, in 103 outings. As impressive as those numbers are, the right-hander is fondly remembered for his heroics in back-to-back series in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21.He was the Player of the Series in India's first-ever Test series win Down Under in 2018/19 and faced the most balls, while producing several valuable knocks, in the 2-1 win in 2020/21.When ranking Pujara on his Test exploits in Australia, among Indian batters, Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel (6:07):"It should be Sachin, Virat, Pujara as 1, 2, 3. We all know Sachin is god and Virat is king. But for Pujara to have played at their level in Australia is amazing. Fast bowlers always prefer batters playing shots so that their chances of taking wickets increases. But, the likes of Pujara made a deadly ball look like a dead-ball through his leaving abilities. That was his real strength."Sachin Tendulkar (1,809) and Virat Kohli (1,542) are India's top two run-scorers in Tests Down Under, with averages of 53.20 and 46.72, respectively. Pujara is fifth with 993 runs at an average of 47.28 in 11 Tests in Australia.Yet, Srikkanth believes Pujara has not received his deserved recognition even after announcing his retirement."My only frustration is over Pujara not getting the recognition someone with over 100 Tests deserves. Despite boasting such an incredible track record, no one is calling him a big player. As he retires, everyone is tweeting about him but not hailing him the way they should. Yet, so many other cricketers retiring dominate the headlines. That's only because he doesn't play ODIs or T20S," he said.The defiant batter only played five white-ball games for India (all ODIs), with an underwhelming average of 10.20."He got into the team when the big daddies, like Sehwag, Tendulkar, and Dravid were there" - Kris SrikkanthKris Srikkanth hailed Cheteshwar Pujara for breaking into the national side at a time when the batting lineup had established stars. The 37-year-old debuted for India in the second Test against Australia in Bengaluru in 2010 and scored a match-winning 72 in the fourth innings."What I like about Pujara is his consistency throughout his career. At the start in 2010, he was fighting with Rahul Dravid for a spot in the Test side. He was competing with a lot of big names and got into the team when the big daddies, like Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid were there. Even Virat Kohli was in the mix," said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).He added:"Infact, he made his Test debut even before Virat Kohli. Let's remember No. 3 is a very important position. Pujara was the master at wearing the bowlers down. If Rahul Dravid was the wall, Pujara was a mini-wall."Pujara was not part of the Test side since the defeat to Australia in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final.