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'Pujara Is A Legit Option' - Former Opener On Virat Kohli's Replacement For ENG Tests

image-lrqe2xhvCheteshwar Pujara last played Test for India 

With Virat Kohli's opting to sit out of the first two Tests against England, India will go into the five-match series with an inexperienced middle-order, which could become their downfall.

India does have alternates in their selected squad, but former national opener Aakash Chopra believes that out-of-favour batter Cheteshwar Pujara is a 'legitimate' replacement for the former captain.  

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are yet to name a replacement for Kohli, and with the first Test beginning on January 25 at Hyderabad, it is highly unlikely that another resource will be selected before the second encounter at Visakhapatnam. 

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player explained that Pujara's recent form, and his track record in Test cricket speaks itself.

“Cheteshwar Pujara - only four Indians have scored more than 20000 first-class runs. He scored a double century recently. Form is with him and he has a proven Test record. He works hard by playing county cricket as well. He is your sincere cricketer. In fact, I say he is Indian cricket's monk. So you can pick him. However, I feel India are not looking in that direction. They have already started looking in a different direction. Cheteshwar Pujara is a legit option but are the Indian selectors looking at him as an option at all? That's the question we need to ask and wonder.”

Pujara recently became the fourth Indian batter to hit 20,000 First-Class runs after Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid. 

The 35-year-old last played for India against Australia in the World Test Championship Final 2023, and scored 7,195 red-ball runs, with 19 tons and 35 fifties, in 103 matches.