"One of the best openers I have played my cricket with" - Cheteshwar Pujara names three underrated teammates from Test career post retirement

Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has named Murali Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as three of the most underrated players he played alongside in the Indian team. The 37-year-old said that in the case of Saha and Bhuvneshwar, the presence of MS Dhoni and injuries, respectively, prevented them from having longer careers.

The 103-Test veteran also referred to Vijay as one of the best openers he played with in his career. He told Sports Today:

"If I have to pick a few, I would go with Murali Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. All three were exceptional players. Unfortunately, Bhuvi was injured and he couldn’t carry on playing Test cricket for a long time but he was an exceptional bowler. Wriddhiman Saha has been an exceptional wicketkeeper and a batter. But he was born in an era when Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) was captain and then after that he didn’t get a lot of matches to play for the Indian team and Rishabh Pant also came in so he missed out."

"Murali Vijay, again an exceptional opener, I think one of the best openers I have played my cricket with because if you are a number three player you want the best opener out there. I have had a lot of great partnerships with Vijay and he is also one of the best Test openers I have seen."

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has played only 21 Tests for India since debuting in 2013. His last Test match came against South Africa at Johannesburg in 2018. Meanwhile, Wriddhiman Saha played in only 40 Tests between 2010 and 2021, largely due to the presence of MS Dhoni as captain in the playing XI.

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Cheteshwar Pujara picks Rahul Dravid as the batter to bat for his life, picks Brian Lara as the overseas batter he admired the most

Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara picked Rahul Dravid as the batter to bat for his life. He also said that among the overseas batters, he admired the way former West Indies captain Brian Lara dominated in the longer format.

"I would go with Rahul bhai, Rahul Dravid.I would go with Brian Lara because when I was young, I grew up watching Sachin paaji. Brian Lara scored so many runs. I admired his batting a lot, the way he used to dominate in Test cricket," he said.

Pujara played with Dravid in 2010 and 2011, and later was coached by him from 2021 to 2023.