India is all set to commence their tour of Australia starting with the first Test match at Perth on November 22. It is a big series given the current position of the teams in the World Test Championship and India need to be at their best to put up a good performance in the series and qualify for the World Test Championship final. Australia are coming through a better preparation but India will be on their toes and will have a psychological edge given they have won their last two tours in Australia. In both those tours Cheteshwar Pujara played a key role in India's victory. He batted out time and allowed the non striker to go for the shots. Reports suggest that Pujara is returning to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as a commentator.  November 19 Memes Go Viral As Team India Fans Painfully Recall India's Heartbreaking Defeat to Australia in ODI World Cup 2023 Final.

Cheteshwar Pujara is not part of the Team India squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024. Pujara last played in the World Test Championship 2021-23 against Australia and since then the Indian team management has opted to look forward by playing the likes of Shubman Gill in the number three position. Pujara has been playing County Championship cricket in the meantime. According to reports, Pujara will join the Star Sports Network Hindi commentary team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Pujara is not the first cricketer who has joined the commentary team while still having an active career. Dinesh Karthik was also commentating recently when he was still with the Indian T20 team. Several cricketers are now entering the broadcast arena and making it big and Pujara can be the latest entrant in it. Virat Kohli Reveals His Best Knock in Australia as Team India Cricketers Share Fun Questions for Each Other During Headshot Session Ahead of IND vs AUS Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 (Watch Video).

Pujara will have good insights about the conditions in Australia given how he succeeded in it in his last two tours.  Pujara scored 271 runs in the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy and ended as the second highest run scorer of the series. During the 2018-19 tour of Australia, he scored 521 runs, including three centuries and a fifty and was instrumental in India’s historic first Border-Gavaskar Trophy victory on Australian soil and was named Player of the Series.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 18, 2024 09:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).